Mouse spleen and bone marrow cells enriched for NK-1+ cells were used as the immunogen for the Nk1.1 antibody.
NK-1.1 is commonly used as a mouse NK cell marker. It has also been shown to play a role in NK cell activation, IFN- production, and cytotoxic granule release. It is a type II integral membrane glycoprotein with a C-type lectin domain and is encoded by the Klrb1c/NKR-P1C gene. It is predominantly expressed as a disulfide-linked homodimer on NK cells however, it is also expressed on NK-T cells, a rare population of T lymphocytes. NK1.1 is expressed in some mouse strains, including C57BL/6, FVB/N, and NZB, but not AKR, BALB/c, CBA/J, C3H, DBA/1, DBA/2, NOD, SJL, and 129. Expression of NKR-P1C antigen has been correlated with lysis of tumor cells in vitro and rejection of bone marrow allografts in vivo.
