Valpha14 NKT cells express an invariant antigen receptor encoded by Valpha14 and Jalpha281 gene segments as well as natural killer (NK) markers, including NK1.1. Here, we describe a precursor population of NKT cells (pre-NKT) that expresses NK1.1, T cell antigen receptor beta, pTalpha, and RAG1/2 but not Valpha14 and surface CD3epsilon. Such pre-NKT cells were differentiated successfully in vit...

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells are known to play important roles in autoimmunity, infectious diseases and cancers. However, little is known about the roles of these invariant T cells in multiple trauma. The purposes of this study were to examine MAIT and NKT cell levels in patients with multiple trauma and to investigate potential relationships betw...

Natural killer T (NKT) cells comprise a family of specialized T cells that recognize lipid antigens presented by CD1d. Based on their T cell receptor (TCR) usage and antigen specificities, CD1d-restricted NKT cells have been divided into two main subsets: type I NKT cells that use a canonical invariant TCR α-chain and recognize α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), and type II NKT cells that use a m...

Lymphocytes that combine features of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells are named natural killer T (NKT) cells. The majority of NKT cells in mice bear highly conserved invariant Valpha chains, and to date two populations of such canonical NKT cells are known in mice: those that express Valpha14 and those that express Valpha7.2. Both populations are selected by nonpolymorphic major histocompa...

Obesity is associated with a low-grade, chronic inflammation that promotes the development of a variety of diseases, most notably type 2 diabetes. A number of cell types of the innate and adaptive immune systems have been implicated in this process. Recent studies have focused on the role of natural killer T (NKT) cells, a subset of T lymphocytes that react with lipids, in the development of ob...

NKT cells have been described as innate regulatory cells because of their rapid response to conserved glycolipids presented on CD1d via their invariant TCR. However, little is known about the contribution of the hepatic NKT cell to the development of a local and/or systemic immune response to acute septic challenge (cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)). We found not only that mice deficient in in...

NKT cells recognize lipid-based Ags presented by CD1d. Type I NKT cells are often referred to as invariant owing to their mostly invariant TCR α-chain usage (Vα14-Jα18 in mice, Vα24-Jα18 in humans). However, these cells have diverse TCR β-chains, including Vβ8, Vβ7, and Vβ2 in mice and Vβ11 in humans, joined to a range of TCR Dβ and Jβ genes. In this study, we demonstrate that TCR β-chain compo...

NKT cells expressing both invariant TCRs and NK cell receptors are an important regulatory cell subset active during initiation of innate immune responses. They are involved in a wide variety of immune responses, but the molecular details of their regulatory action are unknown. Transcriptional profiling has been used for analysis of NKT cell activation profiles, revealing that NKT cells differ ...