CD56^brightDNAM-1^pos, CD56^dimDNAM-1^pos, and CD56^dimDNAM-1^negNK cell populations display distinct gene expression profiles. CD56^brightDNAM-1^pos, CD56^dimDNAM-1^pos, and CD56^dimDNAM-1^neg NK cell subsets were purified from healthy donor PBMCs, and their gene expression profiles were analyzed by using RNAseq. Four independent samples, each one consisting of NK cell mRNAs pooled from 10 to 20 donors, were analyzed for each population. (A) Relative expression of Ncam1 and Cd226 mRNAs in reads per kilobase million (RPKM). Data were analyzed with a 1-way ANOVA followed by a Tukey multiple comparison post hoc test. (B) Unsupervised principal component analysis revealed 3 clusters corresponding to the 3 NK cell populations (Benjamini-Hochberg corrected P value, q = 0.05). (C) Heat map and hierarchical clustering of the most differentially expressed genes between the 3 populations (q = 0.05). Genes can be divided into 6 groups (A-F) according to their pattern of expression. (D) Heat map displaying selected NK cell-related genes. (E) Heat map displaying selected genes related to inflammation and immunosuppression. ***P < .001; ****P < .00001.