We have discussed in the previous sections the recent progress made toward elucidating
the regulatory mechanism of perforin gene transcription and the domain structure of the …

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses structure and expression of perforin. Perforin is a
primary candidate as mediator of the cellular cytotoxicity exhibited by cytotoxic T …

Perforin is a pore-forming killer protein exclusively expressed by cells functionally defined as
cytolytic lymphocytes. Previous reporter gene investigations have indicated that the cell-type …

Gene expression of the cytolytic protein perforin is restricted to and tightly regulated in
cytolytic lymphocytes. To begin to understand the molecular basis of perforin gene …

The mechanism of lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis is controversial (see recent reviews
BLEACKLEY et al. 1988; BRUNET et al. 1988; CLARK et al. 1988; MUELLER et al. 1988; …

Perforin is a cytolytic mediator produced by killer lymphocytes, and is stored in and released
by cytoplasmic granules. The proteh is partiall, homologous to the terminal components of …

There is little doubt at the present time that both perforin-dependent and-independent
pathways are important in mediating the cytotoxicity associated with lymphocytes. The cell …

The gene encoding the cytolytic protein perforin is selectively expressed by activated killer
lymphocytes. To understand the mechanisms underlying the cell-type-specific expression of …

The most striking aspect of lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis is the formation of membrane
lesions on target membranes as first described by Dourmashkin et al.(1980). In these early …

Lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity has been proposed to consist of the polarized secretion of
granule-stored perforin leading to target-cell lysis. Nevertheless, perforin-independent …