Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32117816›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2020

Characterizing the Dysfunctional NK Cell: Assessing the Clinical Relevance of Exhaustion, Anergy, and Senescence.

Sean J Judge, William J Murphy, Robert J Canter

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 140 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
140citing papers in PubMed
10.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

140 citing papers in PubMed, 190 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Therapeutic bacteria-trained NK cells confer long-term protection against cancer metastasis.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Trogocytosis in cancer immunity and cellular immunotherapy: mechanisms, therapeutic challenges, and translational opportunities.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Type 2 inflammation accelerates CD4Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B · 2026
    Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Aging and lung diseases: Unraveling mechanisms and therapeutic targets.Chinese medical journal pulmonary and critical care medicine · 2025
    Review
  19. Review
  20. Review

80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sean J JudgeDivision of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States.
William J MurphyDepartment of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States.
Robert J CanterDivision of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States.
University of California, Davis · US

Funding

Gene Expression Analysis of Dog Natural Killer Cells Following Immunotherapy with Molecularly Targeted Radionuclide therapy or Inhaled IL-15U01CA224166 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI CANTER, ROBERT J., REBHUN, ROBERT B · 2017 to 2021
$3.0M
Radio-immunotherapy to Target Cancer Stem Cells in Solid Tumor MalignanciesR01CA189209 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI MURPHY, WILLIAM JOSEPH · 2015 to 2019
$2.0M
Immunoregulatory and effector roles of natural killer cell subsetsR01HL140921 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI MURPHY, WILLIAM JOSEPH · 2018 to 2021
$1.9M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA189209NCI NIH HHS U01 CA224166NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL140921
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature demonstrating the importance of T cell exhaustion in regulating and shaping immune responses to pathogens and cancer. Simultaneously, the parallel development of therapeutic antibodies targeting inhibitory molecules associated with immune exhaustion (such as PD-1, but also TIGIT, and LAG-3) has led to a revolution in oncology with dramatic benefits in a growing list of solid and hematologic malignancies. Given this success in reinvigorating exhausted T cells and the related anti-tumor effects, there are increasing efforts to apply immune checkpoint blockade to other exhausted immune cells beyond T cells. One approach involves the reinvigoration of "exhausted" NK cells, a non-T, non-B lymphoid cell of the innate immune system. However, in contrast to the more well-defined and established molecular, genetic, and immunophenotypic characteristics of T cell exhaustion, a consensus on the defining functional and phenotypic features of NK "exhaustion" is less clear. As is well-known from T cell biology, separate and distinct molecular and cellular processes including senescence, anergy and exhaustion can lead to diminished immune effector function with different implications for immune regulation and recovery. For NK cells, it is unclear if exhaustion, anergy, and senescence entail separate and distinct entities of dysfunction, though all are typically characterized by decreased effector function or proliferation. In this review, we seek to define these distinct spheres of NK cell dysfunction, analyzing how they have been shown to impact NK biology and clinical applications, and ultimately highlight key characteristics in NK cell function, particularly in relation to the role of "exhaustion."

Indexed as

Killer Cells, NaturalNeoplasmsHumansimmune dysfunctionnatural killer cellsNK cellsNK dysfunctionNK exhaustion

Identifiers

PMID32117816
PMCPMC7031155
OpenAlexW3006392123

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.