This family consists of several mammalian DAP10 membrane proteins. In activated mouse natural killer (NK) cells, the NKG2D receptor associates with two intracellular adaptors, DAP10 and DAP12, which trigger phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) and Syk family protein tyrosine kinases, respectively. It has been suggested that the DAP10-PI3K pathway is sufficient to initiate NKG2D-mediated killing of target cells [1].

1: NKG2D triggers cytotoxicity in mouse NK cells lacking DAP12 or Syk family kinases. Zompi S, Hamerman JA, Ogasawara K, Schweighoffer E, Tybulewicz VL, Di Santo JP, Lanier LL, Colucci F; Nat Immunol 2003;4:565-572. PMID:12740576