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Raising the NKT cell family

Nature Immunology volume 11, pages 197–206 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Natural killer T cells (NKT cells) are CD1d-restricted, lipid antigen–reactive, immunoregulatory T lymphocytes that can promote cell-mediated immunity to tumors and infectious organisms, including bacteria and viruses, yet paradoxically they can also suppress the cell-mediated immunity associated with autoimmune disease and allograft rejection. Furthermore, in some diseases, such as atherosclerosis and allergy, NKT cell activity can be deleterious to the host. Although the precise means by which these cells carry out such contrasting functions is unclear, recent studies have highlighted the existence of many functionally distinct NKT cell subsets. Because their frequency and number vary widely between individuals, it is important to understand the mechanisms that regulate the development and maintenance of NKT cells and subsets thereof, which is the subject of this review.

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Figure 1: Intracellular signaling pathways involved in NKT cell selection.
Figure 2: NKT cell development and maturation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Health and Medical Research Council for research support and members of our laboratories for discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Dale I Godfrey & Sanda Stankovic

  2. Comparative Genomics Centre, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    Alan G Baxter

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  1. Dale I Godfrey
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  2. Sanda Stankovic
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  3. Alan G Baxter
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Correspondence to Dale I Godfrey.

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Godfrey, D., Stankovic, S. & Baxter, A. Raising the NKT cell family. Nat Immunol 11, 197–206 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.1841

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