Noncoding RNA in NK cells

Abstract

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNA) are important regulators that modulate cell proliferation, apoptosis, the cell cycle, and DNA methylation. NK cells mediate the immune response via the secretion of various cytokines and are important innate immune cells in the human immune system. Recent studies have found that ncRNA plays an important role in NK cell development and function. With recent advances in bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing, novel ncRNAs have been identified, allowing us to more fully appreciate its functions in NK cell biology. In this review, we summarize and discuss the latest studies on the functions and regulatory mechanisms of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA in NK cells from the viewpoint of epigenetic mechanisms to help us clearly understand ncRNA in NK cells.