Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

NKT cells

NKT cells join the IL-17 gang

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 8, page 324 (2008)Cite this article

Mouse TH17 cells have been reported to require IL-6 and transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) for lineage commitment and IL-23 for maintenance. So, Caspi and colleagues were surprised to find that IL-6-deficient splenocytes were as efficient as their wild-type counterparts at producing IL-17 24 hours after stimulation with CD3-specific antibody and IL-23. Further analysis revealed that the source of this IL-17 was in fact NKT cells (defined as DX5+TCRβ+). Stimulation of purified NKT cells with the NKT-cell ligand α-galactosylceramide and purified CD11c+ antigen-presenting cells confirmed NKT cells as early producers of IL-17. The ability to produce IL-17 did not belong to any particular NKT-cell subset, but seemed to be associated with those that lacked expression of the NK-cell marker NK1.1.

In TH17 cells, IL-6 is thought to be important for upregulating the expression of the IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) and the TH17-cell-lineage-specific transcription factor RORγt (retinoic-acid-receptor-related orphan receptor-γt). Consistent with their ability to produce IL-17 rapidly and independently of IL-6, NKT cells, unlike naive T cells, were found to express IL-23R and RORγt constitutively. Memory T cells also showed constitutive expression of IL-23R and RORγt and had a similar ability to rapidly produce IL-17 after TCR ligation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Rachitskaya, A. V. et al. NKT cells constitutively express IL-23 receptor and RORγt and rapidly produce IL-17 upon receptor ligation in an IL-6-independent fashion. J. Immunol. 180, 5167–5171 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Lucy Bird
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bird, L. NKT cells join the IL-17 gang. Nat Rev Immunol 8, 324 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2325

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2325

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing