Peripheral NK1.1 NKT cells are mature and functionally distinct from their thymic counterparts |
| |
Authors: | McNab Finlay W Pellicci Daniel G Field Kenneth Besra Gurdyal Smyth Mark J Godfrey Dale I Berzins Stuart P |
| |
Institution: | Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. |
| |
Abstract: | One interesting aspect of NKT cell development is that although they are thymus dependent, the pivotal transition from NK1.1(-) to NK1.1(+) can often take place after immature NK1.1(-) NKT cells are exported to the periphery. NK1.1(-) NKT cells in general are regarded as immature precursors of NK1.1(+) NKT cells, meaning that peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are regarded as a transient, semimature population of recent thymic emigrant NKT cells. In this study, we report the unexpected finding that most NK1.1(-) NKT cells in the periphery of naive mice are actually part of a stable, mature and functionally distinct NKT cell population. Using adult thymectomy, we show that the size of the peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cell pool is maintained independently of thymic export and is not the result of NK1.1 down-regulation by mature cells. We also demonstrate that most peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are functionally distinct from their immature thymic counterparts, and from NK1.1(+) NKT cells in the periphery. We conclude that the vast majority of peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are part of a previously unrecognized, mature NKT cell subset. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|