Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 2 (NCR2)

LY95 is a member of the Ig superfamily. LY95 is a type I transmembrane protein with a 21-amino acid leader sequence, a 169-amino acid extracellular region, a 23-amino acid transmembrane protein, and a 63-amino acid cytoplasmic tail. The potential N- and O-linked glycosylation sites are apparently occupied since the observed molecular mass of LY95 is 44 kD as opposed to the predicted 24 kD.

The cytoplasmic tail contains the amino acid sequence ILYHTV, which fits the consensus sequence for an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM). Northern blot analysis revealed that expression of 3.7- and 1.2-kb LY95 transcripts are restricted to interleukin-2 (IL2)-activated NK cell lines and clones. IL2-activated NK cells have enhanced activity in vitro and in vivo.