Recognition of bacterial glycosphingolipids by natural killer T cells

Yuki Kinjo, Douglass Wu, Gisen Kim, Guo-Wen Xing, Michael A. Poles, David D. Ho, Moriya Tsuji, Kazuyoshi Kawahara, Chi-Huey Wong and Mitchell Kronenberg ()
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Yuki Kinjo: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego
Douglass Wu: The Scripps Research Institute
Gisen Kim: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego
Guo-Wen Xing: The Scripps Research Institute
Michael A. Poles: New York University School of Medicine
David D. Ho: The Rockefeller University
Moriya Tsuji: The Rockefeller University
Kazuyoshi Kawahara: The Kitasato Institute
Chi-Huey Wong: The Scripps Research Institute
Mitchell Kronenberg: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego

Nature, 2005, vol. 434, issue 7032, 520-525

Abstract: Abstract Natural killer T (NKT) cells constitute a highly conserved T lymphocyte subpopulation that has the potential to regulate many types of immune responses through the rapid secretion of cytokines1,2. NKT cells recognize glycolipids presented by CD1d, a class I-like antigen-presenting molecule. They have an invariant T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) α-chain, but whether this invariant TCR recognizes microbial antigens is still controversial. Here we show that most mouse and human NKT cells recognize glycosphingolipids from Sphingomonas, Gram-negative bacteria that do not contain lipopolysaccharide3,4,5. NKT cells are activated in vivo after exposure to these bacterial antigens or bacteria, and mice that lack NKT cells have a marked defect in the clearance of Sphingomonas from the liver. These data suggest that NKT cells are T lymphocytes that provide an innate-type immune response to certain microorganisms through recognition by their antigen receptor, and that they might be useful in providing protection from bacteria that cannot be detected by pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptor 4.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03407

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