| First Author | Kovalovsky D | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 1055-64 |
| PubMed ID | 18660811 | Mgi Jnum | J:139299 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3807724 | Doi | 10.1038/ni.1641 |
| Citation | Kovalovsky D, et al. (2008) The BTB-zinc finger transcriptional regulator PLZF controls the development of invariant natural killer T cell effector functions. Nat Immunol 9(9):1055-64 |
| abstractText | Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) have an innate immunity-like rapidity of response and the ability to modulate the effector functions of other cells. We show here that iNKT cells specifically expressed the BTB-zinc finger transcriptional regulator PLZF. In the absence of PLZF, iNKT cells developed, but they lacked many features of innate T cells. PLZF-deficient iNKT cells accumulated in lymph nodes rather than in the liver, did not express NK markers and did not have the characteristic activated phenotype. PLZF-deficient iNKT cells failed to secrete large amounts of interleukin 4 and interferon-gamma after activation; however, some cells produced either interleukin 4 or interferon-gamma but not both. PLZF, therefore, is an iNKT cell-specific transcription factor that is necessary for full functionality. |
