Leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors

The leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILR) are a family of receptors possessing extracellular immunoglobulin domains. They are also known as CD85, ILTs and LIR, and can exert immunomodulatory effects on a wide range of immune cells. The human genes encoding these receptors are found in a gene cluster at chromosomal region 19q13.4.

They include

• LILRA1
• LILRA2
• LILRA3
• LILRA4
• LILRA5
• LILRA6
• LILRB1
• LILRB2
• LILRB3
• LILRB4
• LILRB5
• LILRB6 or LILRA6
• LILRB7 or LILRA5

A subset of LILR recognise MHC class I (also known as HLA class I in humans). The LILR family is a cluster of paired receptors with both activating and inhibitory functions. Of these, the inhibitory receptors LILRB1 and LILRB2 show a broad specificity for classical and non-classical MHC alleles with preferential binding to b2m-associated complexes. In contrast, the activating receptors LILRA1 and LILRA3 prefer b2m-independent free heavy chains of MHC class I, and in particular HLA-C alleles.

See also

• LAIR1
• Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor