Transcriptional and post-translational regulation of interleukin-15 signalling in natural killer cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are a subset of innate immune cell that is critical for early response to cancer and viral infection. This thesis has uncovered numerous mechanisms that regulate how NK cells respond to these diseases. The function of NK cells can be significantly altered when the genes Dot1l or Fut8 are deleted. Deleting Dot1l influenced which genes are expressed, making NK cells less effective at killing cancerous cells. Deleting Fut8 impacted the signalling of proteins that are critical for NK cell survival, leading to a significant reduction circulating NK cells in mice.