Natural Killer T Cells: An Ecological Evolutionary Developmental Biology Perspective
نویسندگان
چکیده
Type I natural killer T (NKT) cells are innate-like T lymphocytes that recognize glycolipid antigens presented by the MHC class I-like protein CD1d. Agonistic activation of NKT cells leads to rapid pro-inflammatory and immune modulatory cytokine and chemokine responses. This property of NKT cells, in conjunction with their interactions with antigen-presenting cells, controls downstream innate and adaptive immune responses against cancers and infectious diseases, as well as in several inflammatory disorders. NKT cell properties are acquired during development in the thymus and by interactions with the host microbial consortium in the gut, the nature of which can be influenced by NKT cells. This latter property, together with the role of the host microbiota in cancer therapy, necessitates a new perspective. Hence, this review provides an initial approach to understanding NKT cells from an ecological evolutionary developmental biology (eco-evo-devo) perspective.
منابع مشابه
Comparison of Two Flow Cytometric Methods for Detection of Human Invariant Natural Killer T Cells (iNKT)
Background: Invariant natural killer cells (iNKT) are an important immunoregulatory T cell subset. Currently several flow cytometry-based approaches exist for the identifi-cation of iNKT cells, which rely on using the 6B11 monoclonal antibody or a combina-tion of anti-Vα24 and anti-Vβ11 antibodies. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the ability of two flow cytometry-based methods f...
متن کاملSelf-reactive memory-phenotype CD8 T cells exhibit both MHC-restricted and non-MHC-restricted cytotoxicity: a role for the T-cell receptor and natural killer cell receptors.
We have recently shown that interleukin-2 (IL-2)-activated CD8(+)CD44(hi) cells from normal mice express both adaptive and innate immune system receptors and specifically kill syngeneic tumor cells, particularly those that express NKG2D ligands. Here we show that CD8+ T cells from antigen-expressing H-Y T-cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice also exhibit characteristics of both T cells and natur...
متن کاملConstitutive Cytokine mRNAs Mark Natural Killer (NK) and NK T Cells Poised for Rapid Effector Function
Natural killer (NK) and NK T cells are tissue lymphocytes that secrete cytokines rapidly upon stimulation. Here, we show that these cells maintain distinct patterns of constitutive cytokine mRNAs. Unlike conventional T cells, NK T cells activate interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma transcription during thymic development and populate the periphery with both cytokine loci previously mod...
متن کاملCommentary: The promise of ecological developmental biology.
In a persuasive essay on the promise of developmental evolution, Wagner (2000) argued that this synthetic discipline can make a unique explanatory contribution to evolutionary biology. Identifying developmental and molecular mechanisms and how they have changed at crucial junctures is key to understanding the range of phenotypic possibilities available through evolutionary time, and hence major...
متن کاملIntegrating ecological genomics and eco-evo-devo reveals multiple adaptive peaks in ant populations of the Arizona Sky Islands
Uncovering the genetic basis of adaptation is a great challenge facing evolutionary biologists. We ask where is the locus of adaptation from the perspective of ecological genomics (ecogen) and evolutionary developmental biology (evodevo). Ecogen focuses on identifying loci under selection between populations in different environments by scanning genome-wide patterns of genetic divergence, while...
متن کامل