CD161 defines a distinct subset of pro-inflammatory NK cells that are present in the inflamed gut

CD161 is a C-type lectin like receptor expressed on the majority of Natural Killer (NK) cells, however, the significance of CD161 expression on NK cells has not been comprehensively investigated. We used microarrays to compare gene expression between healthy human CD161+ and CD161- NK cells. Gene expression of sort purified, resting human CD161+ and CD161- NK cells from peripheral blood was measured in 4 healthy donors.