| First Author | Vahl JC | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | PLoS Biol | Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | e1001589 |
| PubMed ID | 23853545 | Mgi Jnum | J:201417 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5514085 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001589 |
| Citation | Vahl JC, et al. (2013) NKT cell-TCR expression activates conventional T cells in vivo, but is largely dispensable for mature NKT cell biology. PLoS Biol 11(6):e1001589 |
| abstractText | Natural killer T (NKT) cell development depends on recognition of self-glycolipids via their semi-invariant Valpha14i-TCR. However, to what extent TCR-mediated signals determine identity and function of mature NKT cells remains incompletely understood. To address this issue, we developed a mouse strain allowing conditional Valpha14i-TCR expression from within the endogenous Tcralpha locus. We demonstrate that naive T cells are activated upon replacement of their endogenous TCR repertoire with Valpha14i-restricted TCRs, but they do not differentiate into NKT cells. On the other hand, induced TCR ablation on mature NKT cells did not affect their lineage identity, homeostasis, or innate rapid cytokine secretion abilities. We therefore propose that peripheral NKT cells become unresponsive to and thus are independent of their autoreactive TCR. |
