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Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Vol.451, No.2, 165-170, 2014
Cytohesin-associated scaffolding protein (CASP) is involved in migration and IFN-gamma secretion in Natural Killer cells
Natural Killer (NK) cells are highly mobile, specialized sub-populations of lymphocytic cells that survey their host to identify and eliminate infected or tumor cells. They are one of the key players in innate immunity and do not need prior activation through antigen recognition to deliver cytotoxic packages and release messenger chemicals to recruit immune cells. Cytohesin associated scaffolding protein (CASP) is a highly expressed lymphocyte adaptor protein that forms complexes with vesicles and sorting proteins including SNX27 and Cytohesin-1. In this study we show that by using stably integrated shRNA, CASP has a direct role in the secretion of IFN-gamma, and NM cell motility and ability to kill tumor cells. CASP polarizes to the leading edge of migrating NK cells, and to the immunological synapse when engaged with tumor cells. However, CASP is not associated with cytotoxic granule mediated killing. CASP is a multifaceted protein, which has a very diverse role in NM cell specific immune functions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.