| First Author | Sinclair LV | Year | 2018 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 1981 |
| PubMed ID | 29773791 | Mgi Jnum | J:262979 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6161085 | Doi | 10.1038/s41467-018-04366-7 |
| Citation | Sinclair LV, et al. (2018) Single cell analysis of kynurenine and System L amino acid transport in T cells. Nat Commun 9(1):1981 |
| abstractText | The tryptophan metabolite kynurenine has critical immunomodulatory properties and can function as an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligand. Here we show that the ability of T cells to transport kynurenine is restricted to cells activated by the T-cell antigen receptor or proinflammatory cytokines. Kynurenine is transported across the T-cell membrane by the System L transporter SLC7A5. Accordingly, the ability of kynurenine to activate the AHR is restricted to T cells that express SLC7A5. We use the fluorescence spectral properties of kynurenine to develop a flow cytometry-based assay for rapid, sensitive and quantitative measurement of the kynurenine transport capacity in a single cell. Our findings provide a method to assess the susceptibility of T cells to kynurenine, and a sensitive single cell assay to monitor System L amino acid transport. |
