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Asthma and allergy

NKT cells have a role in human asthma

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 6, pages 340–341 (2006)Cite this article

Human NKT cells express an invariant T-cell receptor α-chain (TCRα), as well as CD4 or CD8 or neither co-receptor, and are therefore referred to as invariant NKT (iNKT)cells. iNKT cells respond to glycolipid antigens presented by antigen-presenting cells in the context of CD1d and produce both T helper 1 (TH1) and TH2 cytokines. To examine the role of these cells in asthma, the frequency and distribution of CD1d-restricted iNKT cells in bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid from the lungs of 14 patients with asthma was determined using two methods: flow cytometry after incubation with the monoclonal antibody 6B11 (which is specific for the iNKT-cell TCRα) and/or with CD1d-tetramers loaded with α-galactosylceramide (which are also specific for human iNKT cells); and reverse transcription PCR of the invariant TCR.

Large numbers of iNKT cells were found in the bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid from patients with asthma. Indeed, a high proportion of the CD4+ T cells that were present expressed the invariant TCR, indicating that they were actually iNKT cells. Interestingly, these observations seem to be specific to patients with asthma, as the numbers of iNKT cells detected in the bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid from patients with sarcoidosis — a multisystem disorder that mainly affects the lungs — were similar to the numbers found in healthy individuals.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Akbari, O. et al. CD4+ invariant T-cell-receptor+ natural killer T cells in bronchial asthma. N. Engl. J. Med. 354, 1117–1129 (2006)

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Authors
  1. Olive Leavy
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Leavy, O. NKT cells have a role in human asthma. Nat Rev Immunol 6, 340–341 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri1854

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nri1854

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