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:

Host response

How NKT cells detect microorganisms

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 3, page 365 (2005)Cite this article

Previous studies have shown that Vα14+ NKT cells are activated during microbial infection, but whether they are activated directly by TCR recognition of CD1d-presented microbial antigens or indirectly, by other immune cells responding to the pathogen, is a controversial issue that these two groups set out to investigate. Kinjo et al. showed that CD1d presentation of two distinct glycosphingolipid mixtures (GSL-1 and GSL-1′) purified from Sphingomonas species and CD1d presentation of GSL-1′sA and GSL-1′sB (which are synthetic versions of individual GSL-1′components) stimulated cytokine production by both human Vα24+ T-cell lines and mouse Vα14+ NKT cells, but not mouse T cells lacking the semi-invariant Vα14Jα18 TCR α-chain. In addition, GSL-1′sA-loaded CD1d multimers bound all the human Vα24+ T cells and a proportion of liver mononuclear cells from wild-type mice, but not cells from mice lacking Jα18.

Activation of Vα14+ NKT cells in the liver was also observed when wild-type mice were immunized with bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells pulsed with either GSL-1′sA or live Sphingomonas yanoikuyae. This in vivo activation did not depend on Toll-like receptor (TLR) activation of the antigen presenting cells (APCs) or APC secretion of interleukin-12. Functionally, in vivo Vα14+ NKT-cell activation was associated with bacterial clearance.

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 PAPERS

  1. Kinjo, Y. et al. Recognition of bacterial glycosphingolipids by natural killer T cells. Nature 434, 520–525 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mattner, J. et al. Exogenous and endogenous glycolipid antigens activate NKT cells during microbial infection. Nature 434, 525–529 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Associate Editor, Nature Reviews Immunology

    • Karen Honey
Authors
  1. Karen Honey
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Honey, K. How NKT cells detect microorganisms. Nat Rev Microbiol 3, 365 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1166

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1166

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