Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 178, Issue 1, Pages 58-66Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.178.1.58
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Funding
- NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE [R01CA078264] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES [T32GM008737] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NCI NIH HHS [CA78264] Funding Source: Medline
- NIGMS NIH HHS [T32 GM08737] Funding Source: Medline
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NKT cells are glycolipid-reactive lymphocytes that express markers and perform functions common to both T lymphocytes and NK cells. Although the genetic events controlling conventional T cell development are well defined, the transcription factors and genetic programs regulating NKT cell development are only beginning to be elucidated. Previously, we described the NKT cell-deficient phenotype of transgenic (Tg) mice constitutively expressing B cell-activating transcription factor (BATF), a basic leucine zipper protein And inhibitor of AP-1. In this study, we show that Tg BATF targets the majority of V alpha 14J alpha 281 (V alpha 14i(7)) NKT cells, regardless of CD4 expression and V beta gene usage. The residual NKT cells in the thymus of BATF-Tg mice are CD44(+), yet are slow to display the NK1.1 marker characteristic of mature cells. As a population, BATF-expressing NKT cells are TCR beta/CD3 epsilon(low), but express normal levels of CD69, suggesting a failure to expand appropriately following selection. Consistent with the sensitivity of NKT cells to BATF-induced changes in AP-1 activity, we detect a full complement of AP-1 basic leucine zipper proteins in wild-type NKT cells isolated from the thymus, spleen, and liver, and show that AP-1 DNA-binding activity and cytokine gene transcription are induced in NKT cells within a few hours of glycolipid Ag exposure. This study is the first to characterize AP-1 activity in NKT cells and implicates the integrity of this transcription factor complex in developmental events essential to the establishment of this unique T cell subset in the thymus.
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