Binding of natural cytotoxicity receptor NKp46 to sulfate- and α2,3-NeuAc-containing glycans and its mutagenesis

► NKp46 binds to heparin; however, other natural ligands for NKp46 have yet to be elucidated. ► We clarify the binding of NKp46-H6 to sulfate-containing glycans and sialyl Lewis X (sLeX). ► NKp46-H6 bound to multimeric sialyl Lewis X with a Kd value of 530 nM. ► Moreover, we investigated the putative glycan binding sites on NKp46 using mutants.