Identification and Functional Characterization of Natural Killer Cells Using Flow Cytometry

Natural killer (NK) cells are a subset of lymphocytes involved in innate immunity. Their mechanisms of action include the direct lysis of non-self target cells through release of perforin and granzymes, as well as the production of cytokines that are supplied to other innate immune cells. This application note describes the use of a novel flow cytometry kit to characterize NK cells in human peripheral blood and the use of flow cytometry to perform a cell cytotoxicity test to detect NK-mediated killing of human K562 myeloma cells.