Talk:Natural killer cell

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 August 2018 and 21 December 2018. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jessica.Kim285.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 05:00, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Expanding this page
Hi, I am planning on editing some of the existing material, as well as incorporating additional information in sections. If anyone has any problems please do not hesitate to get in contact. Kittty08 (talk) 17:07, 19 March 2012 (UTC)


 * That would be great, the article doesn't read too well. I was hoping to work on it myself, did a section on NK cell role in pregnancy, and was hoping to add more to the "functions section" - cancer, viruses, immune regulation etc. but am very busy atm with other work unfortuneatly :( --Adr11iano (talk) 15:04, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Natural Killer cell → Natural killer cell
As an Natural Killer cell researcher, I believe that "Natural killer cell" should be the prefered wikipedia entry name. "Natural Killer Cell" is the universal nomenclature when describing natural killer cells. "Natural killer lymphocyte", while a techincally correct term, is rarely, if ever used by researchers and should be merged with "Natural killer cell". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clermeil (talk • contribs) 07:00, 27 June 2006

I agree that "Natural Killer (NK) cell" should be the Wikipedia entry name. Indeed, the term lymphocyte is best restricted to those cells that rearrange their antigen receptor (immunoglobulin or T-cell receptor [TCR]) genes. Thus 'Natural Killer lymphocyte' would be incorrect for classical NK cells under this definition. There is a population of cells with NK cell characteristics that do rearrange their TCR genes and these are referred to as NKT cells. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Regfpjd (talk • contribs) 01:37, 30 June 2006

Natural killer T cell
A clear distinction needs to be made between "Natural killer cell" and "Natural killer T cell", with their own wikipedia entries. They also need to be mentioned separately within the lymphocyte and white blood cell articles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.132.232.242 (talk • contribs) 02:55, 9 July 2006
 * They do have their own pages now.--DO11.10 01:58, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

is it not a bit misleading that typing in Killer T cell gets redirected to NK Cell page - i thought that they were actually 2 different cells; the former requiring MHC1 to recognise the antigen and the latter not requiring it? 04:45, 7 November 2006 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Maryhanc (talk • contribs) Please sign your posts.
 * Yup you are right, it has been fixed--DO11.10 01:58, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Some Changes
I added the section on discovery, and I hope to do some significant restructing and organizing of this article. Let me know what you think! Cacofonie 04:00, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Fantastic start! Good luck with the article, it is in serious need of some attention. Now that you've jumped in and started making it look pretty, I'm sure others will follow. I might even pop in at some stage, haha. Thanks for your interest --  Serephine   ♠   talk   - 04:12, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Added a section on activation. I realize its a little redundant with the stuff further on, but, I hope add a section dedicated to NK-cell receptors, as well as a section on 'Missing Self'Cacofonie 19:20, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

edit; not part of the innate immune system but the adaptive immune system ;) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.139.188.135 (talk) 03:00, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Null Cell
Is this the same as a Null cell? (Dan 04:20, 25 September 2007 (UTC))

Rm restructure tag?
Well, I did some restructuring, don't know if what I did is what the tagger had in mind. Should it be removed? If no one responds in a couple days I'll assume no one's interested and remove it myself, since the thing's been tagged since December. Also, I hope someone more familiar with the material will come and simplify the language, since it's a little too technical now. Thanks! delldot  talk  03:40, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Additions to 'Mechanism'
Added some non-technical info about the general role of NK cells and their MHC-Inhibition. Also drew a little diagram to go along with it. Is it comprehensible?

--Cacofonie (talk) 05:04, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Excuse me
I really have no knowledge of this cell or any other cell, in great detail for that matter, but I have a question, that I'm hoping will be able to be answered. Since all cells originate from one main cell, and they are essentially capable to do any job, or function in the body, could these natural killer cells be artificially made? And then used as a...a medicine of sorts for cancer? --AngelicDemon92 (talk) 23:38, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, Natural Killer cells can be generated from stem cells and clinical protocols for cancer treatment will be developed.--84.160.104.212 (talk) 20:43, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Some are transforming NK cells or train them to attack cancer cells. But it is my understanding that cancer cells can easily evade NK detection in the long run, making the therapy ineffective over time like most other cancer therapies today. The better option and where there is great interest today, is CAR T-cells. Check out companies such as Juno and Kite for more information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SmallDogZoe (talk • contribs) 10:49, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

Life cycle of NK-cell?
This part is still missing. How are they being formed? How many of these cells do we have? How long keep they existing? Of course I understand that they are a form of lymphocytes. Wesley sneijder (talk) 02:50, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

New finding
See, and the lay summary, "Master Gene That Switches On Disease-fighting Cells Identified By Scientists". Watch for reviews, this looks interesting.LeadSongDog come howl  19:05, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Not even one histo image?
66.64.72.10 (talk) 22:16, 10 October 2014 (UTC)


 * == Natural Killer Cell Activity ==

For general health or for avoiding cancer & common cold etc, is it a good idea to increase Natural Killer Cell Activity? For example, with supplements? http://examine.com/topics/Natural+Killer+Cell+Activity/ Fish Oil Garlic Spirulina Ashwagandha Ganoderma lucidum ee1518 (talk) 14:15, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, first of all, the supplements actually have to work, which is far from granted. Once you found a supplement that actually worked, the answer is: Probably not. Doing things like this to your body tends to do more harm than good (think autoimmunity). Your best bet to getting an actual answer is to take a specific case (like, melanoma (which would be "maybe") or brain cancer (a definite no)) and ask it on a O&A forum like Stack Exchange.--Alpha3031 (talk) 11:08, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 00:57, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Translation request.
Greetings,

Could somebody (or somebodies) fluent in "Immunology Jargon" please translate this page into English? I already know some about immunity and cannot wade through it. Let's give casual readers a break!

Thank you for your help, Wordreader (talk) 03:25, 7 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Are there any sections that are particularly bad? Can annotate those with jargon and jargon-inline for a later pass. Alpha3031 (t • c) 05:00, 7 November 2023 (UTC)