Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 179, Issue 10, Pages 6630-6637Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.179.10.6630
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Funding
- MRC [G0400421] Funding Source: UKRI
- Medical Research Council [G0400421] Funding Source: Medline
- PHS HHS [R01 106377-04] Funding Source: Medline
- Wellcome Trust [081569/2/06/2] Funding Source: Medline
- Medical Research Council [G0400421] Funding Source: researchfish
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One interesting aspect of NKT cell development is that although they are thymus dependent, the pivotal transition from NK1.1(-) to NK1.1(+) can often take place after immature NK1.1(-) NKT cells are exported to the periphery. NK1.1(-) NKT cells in general are regarded as immature precursors of NK1.1(+) NKT cells, meaning that peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are regarded as a transient, semimature population of recent thymic emigrant NKT cells. In this study, we report the unexpected finding that most NK1.1(-) NKT cells in the periphery of naive mice are actually part of a stable, mature and functionally distinct NKT cell population. Using adult thymectomy, we show that the size of the peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cell pool is maintained independently of thymic export and is not the result of NK1.1 down-regulation by mature cells. We also demonstrate that most peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are functionally distinct from their immature thymic counterparts, and from NK1.1(+) NKT cells in the periphery. We conclude that the vast majority of peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are part of a previously unrecognized, mature NKT cell subset.
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