MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN CD94 - A TYPE-II MEMBRANE GLYCOPROTEIN RELATED TO THE C-TYPE LECTIN SUPERFAMILY

Natural killer (NK) cells preferentially express several genes of the C-type lectin superfamily which have been implicated in the regulation of NK cell function. We demonstrate that CD94 is a type II membrane p rotein encoded by a unique gene of the C-type lectin superfamily. Whil e homology of CD94 with the NK cell-associated NKR-P1 and NKG2 C-type lectin genes is limited to the structural motifs conserved in the carb ohydrate recognition domain, all of these genes are on human chromosom e 12, the syntenic of mouse chromosome 6, where genes of the NK comple x (NKR-P1 and Ly-49) are located. An unexpected feature of CD94 is the essential absence of a cytoplasmic domain, implying that association with other receptors may be necessary for the function of this molecul e.