Investigation of KIR diversity in immunosenecence and longevity within the Irish population

Natural killer (NK) cells play a pivotal role in the innate immune response. During the ageing process, variations occur in NK cell number and function. The cytolytic activity of NK cells is controlled by an array of activating and inhibitory cell surface receptors, including the killer cell immunog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental gerontology 2004-08, Vol.39 (8), p.1223-1232
Main Authors: Maxwell, Lynn D., Ross, Owen A., Curran, Martin D., Rea, I.Maeve, Middleton, Derek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ageing
BELFAST
KIR
Natural killer cell
Polymorphism
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Summary:Natural killer (NK) cells play a pivotal role in the innate immune response. During the ageing process, variations occur in NK cell number and function. The cytolytic activity of NK cells is controlled by an array of activating and inhibitory cell surface receptors, including the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs). In the present study, genetic diversity of the KIR loci was analysed with respect to successful ageing in the Irish population. A PCR–SSOP KIR gene identification system was employed to determine the frequency of the named KIR genes/pseudogenes and KIR genotypes within a healthy aged cohort and young control group. Although, two KIR genes (2DS3, 2DL5) displayed an initial increased frequency in the aged group, the significance of this association was lost when repeated in a second cohort. In view of the lack of studies to date, investigating the role of the KIR gene system in healthy ageing, further analysis of KIR diversity is required to fully elucidate it's role in respect to age-related disease and longevity.
ISSN:0531-5565
1873-6815
DOI:10.1016/j.exger.2004.05.003