Shedding of endogenous MHC class I‐related chain molecules A and B from different human tumor entities: Heterogeneous involvement of the “a disintegrin and metalloproteases” 10 and 17

The interaction of the MHC class I‐related chain molecules A and B (MICA and MICB) with the corresponding natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) receptor triggers cytotoxic effector activity of natural killer cells and certain T‐cell subsets and provides a costimulatory signal for cytokine production. Thus, the presence of MICA/B on transformed cells contributes to tumor immunosurveillance. Consequently, the proteolytic cleavage of MICA/B is...