Reinvigorating NK cells and innate lymphoid cells for therapeutic immunity

Natural killer (NK) cells and other innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are central to immune surveillance, tissue homeostasis, and host defence, while also contributing to inflammation, reproduction, and tumour control. Current research shows that these cells are shaped by local tissue environments, acquire context-dependent effector and memory-like features, and can become dysfunctional through exhaustion, tolerance, or altered metabolic and regulatory states in chronic infection, cancer, and inflammatory disease. Important questions remain regarding how tissue-resident NK cells and ILCs develop, communicate with neighbouring cells, and balance protective immunity with tissue damage. Recent studies have further defined mechanisms of tissue adaptation, identified distinct functional states, and advanced strategies to enhance NK-cell activity through cytokine stimulation, cellular engineering, checkpoint modulation, and combination therapies. However, the relationships between tissue context, cellular plasticity, dysfunction, and therapeutic responsiveness remain incompletely understood, including the potential roles of uterine NK cells in reproductive health.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how NK cells and ILCs adapt to tissue environments, acquire memory-like properties, and develop exhaustion or tolerance during disease. It will examine the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate their differentiation, persistence, communication, and effector functions, as well as approaches for restoring or enhancing their activity. We particularly encourage work addressing how tissue-specific signals influence therapeutic responses and whether the functional states of NK cells and ILCs can be predictably manipulated to improve outcomes in cancer, infection, inflammatory disease, and reproductive health.To gather further insights into NK-cell and ILC biology across physiological and pathological tissue contexts, this Research Topic welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:Tissue-resident NK cells and ILCs and their adaptation to local microenvironments• NK-cell and ILC memory, plasticity, exhaustion, and tolerance• Uterine NK cells and ILCs in reproductive health and disease• Interactions with stromal, epithelial, myeloid, and adaptive immune cells• Metabolic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and cytokine regulation• NK-cell and ILC responses in cancer, infection, and inflammatory disease• Mechanisms of immune evasion and suppression in diseased tissues• Cytokine-based, antibody-based, cellular, and engineered strategies for therapeutic reinvigoration• Biomarkers of NK-cell and ILC function, dysfunction, and treatment response• Translational models and clinical studies of NK-cell- and ILC-based therapiesEvelyn Ullrich declares advisory board roles with Phialogics & CRIION, and sponsored research funding from Gilead. Topic editors: Evelyn Ullrich, Guido Ferlazzo, Giuseppe Sciumè Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85193/reinvigorating-nk-cells-and-innate-lymphoid-cells-for-therapeutic-immunity