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The second, completely revised edition summarize the state-of-the-art knowledge about natural killer (NK) cells by focusing on current topics and recent advances.
Since their discovery in 1975, NK cells have been continuously and increasingly studied by the scientific community. From the status of an atypical killer, they progressively gained attention and are now considered as highly sophisticated effector cells at the interface between innate and adaptive immunity. During the SARS-Cov-2 virus pandemic it became clear that they can be of therapeutic use showing deleterious effects that have been described before in other circumstances.
Split in six parts, this book starts with the basics of NK cells biology and their role in different organs. A special focus is given to their role in cancer, infectious diseases and immunotherapies. The last part reviews unexpected aspects of NK cells in diseases.
Given its comprehensive scope, the book serves as a reference for immunologists working in and outside of the NK cell field. Moreover, its logical and consistent structure will make this book appealing not only to confirmed experts but also master and PhD students.
List of contents
Natural Killer cells within the ILC Family.- Natural Killer Cell Development.- Inhibitory and activating NK receptors in humans: an historical overview.- Natural Killer cell differentiation.- Natural killer cell repertoires and functional diversity: calibration through education.- Natural Killer Cells and Memory.- Effect of cytokines on Natural Killer cells.- Natural Killer cells and chemokines.- Natural Killer cell metabolism.- Regulatory Natural Killer Cells.- NK exhaustion (transcriptional changes in exhausted NK cells).- Natural Killer Cells and Extracellular Vesicles.- Control of Natural Killer Cell Functions by the Nervous System.- NK cells in Inborn Errors of Immunity.- Natural Killer cells in Lymphoid Tissues (lymph nodes).- Natural Killer cells in the human lung.- Natural Killer cells in the liver.- Natural Killer cells in the Skin.- Natural Killer Cells in the Uterus and the Female Genital Tract.- Natural Killer Cells in the Eye.- Natural Killer Cells in the Nervous System in Health and Disease.- Antifungal Activity of Natural Killer Cells.
About the author
Jacques Zimmer studied Medicine in Strasbourg (France) where he obtained his MD degree. After a few years of clinical work, he started a PhD thesis at the University of Strasbourg (Laboratory of Daniel Hanau (MD, DSc) and Henri de la Salle (PhD) about Natural Killer (NK) cells in human transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) deficiency. After his PhD degree, he spent 3.5 years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Prof. Werner Held (PhD) at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne (Switzerland), where he investigated NK cell education and brought up, together with his colleagues, the cis interaction model of NK cell education.
From October 2003 to November 2024, Dr. Zimmer was a Senior Research Scientist in Translational Immunology at the Department of Infection and Immunity (Director: Prof. Dr. med. Markus Ollert) of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), located in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). He obtained his Habilitation in 2006, with Prof Jules A. Hoffmann, Nobel Prize Winner in 2011, as President of the jury.
From 2014 to 2024, Dr. Zimmer taught immunology to Third Year Bachelor students in Life Sciences at the University of Luxembourg (UNI.lu). From 2022 to 2024, he was responsible for the organization and management of bio-clinical lectures in Hematology and Immunology in the 5th Semester of the Bachelor of Medicine at the UNI.lu.
His research data, reviews and editorials, mostly dedicated to NK cells, have been published in numerous international peer reviewed journals. The publication count of Dr. Zimmer is currently at 113 contributions, with his work cited 4729 times and with an H-factor of 36 (Scopus, January 10th, 2025).
He supervised or co-supervised 7 PhD theses, which were all successfully finished.
Dr. Zimmer regularly reviews international manuscripts and grant applications, and he edited the first edition of the present NK cell book in 2010.
Evelyn Ullrich, MD, is Professor of Cellular Immunology and head of the unit “Experimental Immunology and Cell Therapy” at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. She completed her clinical and research training in Freiburg, Erlangen and Paris and is a specialist in internal medicine and immunology. The current research of her group addresses the development of engineered personalized immune cell therapy with focus on NK cells.
Currently, Evelyn Ullrich is speaker of the study group “NK cells & ILCs” of the German Society for Immunology (DgfI e.V.). She is an internationally recognized expert in this field, author, reviewer and editor of specialist journals and spokesperson of NK cell consortia funded by the German Cancer Research Center (DKTK) and as part of the Priority and Drug Development Program supported by the German Cancer Aid (Stiftung Deutsche Krebshilfe).
Furthermore, she is speaker of a German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded Clinician Scientist program and the Mildred Scheel Career Center (MSNZ) in Frankfurt, which is an excellence program for promoting young scientists in cancer research.
