Natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor 3 (NKp30) (NKp30)

Natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor 3 (NKp30) is an activating receptor expressed on natural killer (NK) cells that plays a major role in NK cell-mediated tumor cell lysis and cytokine responses. It features a single extracellular I-type Ig-like domain with two potential N-linked glycosylation sites involved in ligand binding, a short stalk region, and a transmembrane domain that associates with ITAM adaptor molecules CD3ζ and FCεRIγ via a charged arginine residue. NKp30 recognizes diverse ligands such as B7-H6 (a tumor cell surface protein), BAT3 (a nuclear protein exposed on stressed tumor cells), and others like pp65 from CMV, triggering NK cell cytotoxicity upon engagement. The crystal structure reveals a unique binding mode with B7-H6 involving both front and back β-sheets of NKp30's C-like domain and CDR-like loops of B7-H6's V-like domain, forming a monomeric 1:1 complex with high shape complementarity and predominantly hydrophobic interactions.

Other names

NCR3NKp30