Nature Communications (Jan 2017)

The immunoreceptor NKG2D promotes tumour growth in a model of hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Sam Sheppard,
  • Joana Guedes,
  • Anna Mroz,
  • Anastasia-Maria Zavitsanou,
  • Hiromi Kudo,
  • Stephen M. Rothery,
  • Panagiotis Angelopoulos,
  • Robert Goldin,
  • Nadia Guerra

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13930
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Expression of NKG2D immunoreceptor ligands on tumour cells is believed to inhibit tumour growth through engaging NKG2D-expressing immune cells. Here, the authors show that in a model of liver cancer the NKG2D/NKG2D-ligand pathway can also promote tumour formation by sustaining an inflammatory environment.