Natural killer (NK) cells are a subset of lymphocytes that contribute to innate immunity through cytokine secretion and target cell lysis. NK cell function is regulated by a multiplicity of activating and inhibitory receptors. The advance in instrumentation for multi-color flow cytometry and the generation of specific mAbs for different epitopes related to phenotypic and functional parameters have facilitated our understanding of NK cell responses. Here, we provide protocols for flow cytometric evaluation of degranulation and cytokine production by human NK cells from peripheral blood at the single cell level. In addition to offering insight into the regulation of human NK cell responses, these techniques are applicable to the assessment of various clinical conditions, including the diagnosis of immunodeficiency syndromes.

In Escherichia coli, the binding of non-native protein substrates to the Hsp70 chaperone DnaK is mediated by the co-chaperone DnaJ. DnaJ accelerates ATP hydrolysis on DnaK, by closing the peptide-binding cleft of DnaK. GrpE catalysed nucleotide exchange and ATP re-binding then lead to substrate release from DnaK, allowing folding. Here we refold immunoglobulin 27 (I27) to better understand how DnaJ-DnaK-GrpE chaperones cooperate. When DnaJ is present, I27 is less likely to misfold and more likely to fold, whereas the unfolded state remains unaffected. Thus, the 'holdase' DnaJ shows foldase behaviour. Misfolding of I27 is fully abrogated when DnaJ cooperates with DnaK, which stabilizes the unfolded state and increases the probability of folding. Addition of GrpE shifts the unfolded fraction of I27 to prechaperone levels. These insights reveal synergistic mechanisms within the evolutionary highly conserved Hsp70 system that prevent substrates from misfolding and promote their productive transition to the native state.

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The adventures of titin: in vertebrates, titin filaments control the extendibility of the muscle sarcomere. The titin immunoglobulin 27 unfolds through an intermediate (see structure; arrow: hydrogen bonds ruptured to reach intermediate) that it is highly independent of the force load applied. It is shown that this intermediate acts as a “force buffer” that protects immunoglobulin from unfolding at physiologically applied forces.