Expression of murine killer immunoglobulin-like receptor KIRL1 on CD1d-independent NK1.1+ T cells

Three mouse killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), namely, KIR3DL1, KIRL1, and KIRL2, have recently been identified in C56BL/6 (B6) mice. However, only two Kir genes are found in the B6 mouse genome sequence data base. To clarify this discrepancy, we cloned Kir cDNAs from multiple strains of mice. Sequencing of the cDNA clones showed that the Kir3dl1 gene is found in C3H/HeJ and CBA/J but not in B6 mice. Analysis of the single nucleotide polymorphism data base suggested that Kir3dl1 is the C3H/HeJ and CBA/J allele of Kirl1. We generated mAb to the recombinant KIRL1 protein to investigate its expression pattern. The anti-KIRL1 mAb bound to NK1.1⁺ T cells but only very weakly or at undetectable levels to other lymphocytes including natural killer (NK) cells and conventional T cells. Among NK1.1⁺ T cells, conventional NK T cells stained with CD1d tetramer did not significantly bind anti-KIRL1 mAb, whereas CD1d-tetramer-negative subset was KIRL1-positive. Furthermore, the expression of KIRL1 is readily detected on NK1.1⁺ T cells from β₂-microglobulin-deficient B6 mice. Thus, KIRL1 is predominantly expressed on CD1d-independent NK1.1⁺ T cells.