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Nature 391, 642-643 (12 February 1998) | doi:10.1038/35515

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Immunology:  Unmasking the killer's accomplice

Marco Colonna1

Class I molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are polymorphic glycoproteins which, under normal circumstances, are expressed on the surface of almost every cell in the body. Upon viral infection or in tumour cells, however, MHC class I can be downregulated, and its absence is 'sensed' by natural killer (NK) cells in a process known as recognition of 'missing self'1.

  1. Marco Colonna is at the Basel Institute for Immunology, Grenzacherstrasse 487, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland.
    e-mail: Email: colonna@bii.ch