Natural killer T (NKT) cells have gained great attention owing to their critical functional roles in immunity to various pathogens. In this review, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on the role of NKT cells in host defense against and pathogenesis due to Chlamydia, which is an intracellular bacterial pathogen that poses a threat to the public health worldwide. Accumulating evidenc...

Invariant Valpha14i NKT (iNKT) cells are a specialized subset of T lymphocytes with regulatory functions. They coexpress TCRalphabeta and natural killer cell markers. They differentiate through interaction of their Valpha14-Jalpha18 invariant TCRalpha chains with CD1d expressed on double-positive (DP) thymocytes. Although their development has been shown to be thymus dependent, their developmen...

Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells constitute a versatile T cell subset with important regulatory functions, which are thought to result essentially from their capacity to promptly produce cytokines that influence the Th1/Th2 balance. In this study, we report that these cells can also express Foxp3, an important transcriptional regulator associated with suppressive activity, once they have been exposed...

A variety of mechanisms are involved in the regulation of offspring allergy development through maternal immunization with allergens. The passive transfer of antigens, antibodies, and cytokines, the induction of phenotypic alterations in offspring lymphocytes, and the induction of regulatory populations in offspring have been proposed, but these mechanisms remain incompletely understood. It is ...

Cells of both the innate and adaptive immune system participate in the development of atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disorder of medium and large arteries. Natural killer T (NKT) cells express surface markers characteristic of natural killer cells and conventional T cells and bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems. The development and activation of NKT cells is dependent upon CD...