Deciphering the biology of NKG2C+ natural killer cells

The classic division of the immune system into an innate and an adaptive branch has been one of the dominant paradigms for immunologists shaping both questions and interpretations in the field for many years. This traditional concept has been challenged recently and the once clear boundaries are beginning to blur. Exciting new findings demonstrate that during the course of an immune response, Natural Killer (NK) cells, generally considered innate immune cells, can display certain features of adaptive immunity such as subset expansion, increased longevity and more potent effector functions upon secondary challenge. Roughly a decade ago, a first report [1] described a lasting imprint of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection on the human NK cell repertoire, highlightin