Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes that can mediate lysis of certain tumor cells and virus-infected cells without previous activation. They can also regulate specific humoral and cell-mediated immunity. NK cells preferentially express several calcium-dependent (SLCtype) lectins, which have been implicated in the regulation of NK cell function. KLRC3 is a member of the NKG2 group which are expressed primarily in natural killer (NK) cells and encodes a family of transmembrane proteins characterized by a type II membrane orientation (extracellular C terminus) and the presence of a SLCtype lectin domain. The NKG2 gene family is located within the NK complex, a region that contains several SLCtype lectin genes preferentially expressed on NK cells. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Function:
Plays a role as a receptor for the recognition of MHC class I HLA-E molecules by NK cells and some cytotoxic T-cells.
Subcellular Location:
Membrane.
Tissue Specificity:
Natural killer cells.
Similarity:
Contains 1 SLCtype lectin domain.
SWISS:
Q07444
Gene ID:
3823
Database links:
Entrez Gene: 3823 Human
Entrez Gene: 58179 Mouse
Entrez Gene: 500338 Rat
Omim: 602892 Human
SwissProt: Q07444 Human
Unigene: 654362 Human
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