AUTHOR=van der Sluijs Peter , Zibouche Mallik , van Kerkhof Peter 

TITLE=Late Steps in Secretory Lysosome Exocytosis in Cytotoxic Lymphocytes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2013.00359

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2013.00359

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Natural Killer cells are a subset of cytotoxic lymphocytes that are important in host defense against infections and transformed cells. They exert this function through recognition of target cells by cell surface receptors, which triggers a signaling program that results in a re-orientation of the microtubule organizing center and secretory lysosomes toward the target cell. Upon movement of secretory lysosomes to the plasma membrane and subsequent fusion, toxic proteins are released by secretory lysosomes in the immunological synapse which then enter and kill the target cell. In this minireview we highlight recent progress in our knowledge of late steps in this specialized secretion pathway and address important open questions.</p>