Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that lack antigen-specific rearranged receptors, a hallmark of adaptive lymphocytes. In some people infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), an NK cell subset expressing the activating receptor NKG2C undergoes clonal-like expansion that partially resembles anti-viral adaptive responses. However, the viral ligand that drives the activation and differentiation of adaptive NKG2C NK cells has remained unclear. Here we found that adaptive NKG2C NK cells differentially recognized distinct HCMV strains encoding variable UL40 peptides that, in combination with pro-inflammatory signals, controlled the population expansion and differentiation of adaptive NKG2C NK cells. Thus, we propose that polymorphic HCMV peptides contribute to shaping of the heterogeneity of adaptive NKG2C NK cell populations among HCMV-seropositive people.

Natural killer (NK) cells contribute to the first line of defense against viruses and to the control of tumor growth and metastasis spread. The discovery of HLA class I specific inhibitory receptors, primarily of killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs), and of activating receptors has been fundamental to unravel NK cell function and the molecular mechanisms of tumor cell killing. Stemmed from the seminal discoveries in early ‘90s, in which Alessandro Moretta was the major actor, an extraordinary amount of research on KIR specificity, genetics, polymorphism, and repertoire has followed. These basic notions on NK cells and their receptors have been successfully translated to clinical applications, primarily to the haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to cure otherwise fatal leukemia in patients with no HLA compatible donors. The finding that NK cells may express the PD-1 inhibitory checkpoint, particularly in cancer patients, may allow understanding how anti-PD-1 therapy could function also in case of HLA class I neg tumors, usually susceptible to NK-mediated killing. This, together with the synergy of therapeutic anti-checkpoint monoclonal antibodies, including those directed against NKG2A or KIRs, emerging in recent or ongoing studies, opened new solid perspectives in cancer therapy.

The ability of tumors to manage an immune-mediated attack has been recently included in the "next generation" of cancer hallmarks. In solid tumors, the microenvironment that is generated during the first steps of tumor development has a pivotal role in immune regulation. An intricate net of cross-interactions occurring between tumor components, stromal cells, and resident or recruited immune cells skews the possible acute inflamma-tory response toward an aberrant ineffective chronic inflammatory status that favors the evasion from the host's defenses. Natural killer (NK) cells have powerful cytotoxic activity , but their activity may be eluded by the tumor microenvironment. Immunosubversion, immunoediting or immunoselection of poorly immunogenic tumor cells and interference with tumor infiltration play a major role in evading NK-cell responses to tumors. Tumor cells, tumor-associated fibroblasts and tumor-induced aberrant immune cells (i.e. tolero-genic or suppressive macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells) can interfere with NK-cell activation pathways or the complex receptor array that regulate NK-cell activation and antitumor activity. Thus, the definition of tumor microenvironment-related immuno-suppressive factors, along with the identification of new classes of tissue-residing NK-like innate lymphoid cells, represent key issues to design effective NK-cell-based therapies of solid tumors.