Thesis (M.Sc.) - German University - Faculty of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research - Department of Molecular Pharmacology

NK cells are an important line of defense against many stressful conditions. They are cytotoxic effector cells that can directly kill viral infected and tumor cells. Also they act as immunoregulatory cells through the release of various cytokines to bridge between the innate and the adaptive immune systems. The activation status of NK cells is determined by the balance between signals from its activating and inhibitory receptors. When it comes to cancers, there is often an imbalance in these signals enabling the tumor cells to evade the NK cell mediated immune responses