Cells of the rhesus immune system contain a wide variety of receptors

‘Faulty cells’ (for example cells infected by a virus) need to be recognized at an early stage in order to activate the immune system. To achieve this, the body contains a complex alarmsystem. Specialised proteins (so-called Major Histcompatibility Complex MHC class I) mark cells by presenting parts of proteins of the invader on the cell surface.

The soldiers of the immune system, Natural Killer Cells, express receptors that can recognise these markers on the body cells. Subsequently these receptors, so-called Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) inhibit or activate the Natural Killer Cells.

The process described above can play a major role in the susceptibility to certain diseases and/or disease progression. To further refine and improve the rhesus macaque as animal model for biomedical research it is important to characterise KIR molecules in the rhesus macaque. BPRC has a characterised breeding colony with well-documented family history. This provides essential information with regard to inheritance and evolution of certain genetic traits. It was already known that rhesus macaques possess an enormous variation of different MHC class I molecules and combinations thereof. Characterisation of the KIR molecules in rhesus macaques (PubMed publication) has shown a wide variety in type and number of KIR molecules. This research conducted by the BPRC enables detection of all these different markers presented by the different MHC class I molecules.