The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc.
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
Published online 6 June 1999.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 143K)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JEM
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Benlagha, K.
Right arrow Articles by Bendelac, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Benlagha, K.
Right arrow Articles by Bendelac, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/2000/6/1895/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 191, Number 11, June 5, 2000 1895-1904

Original Article

In Vivo Identification of Glycolipid Antigen–specific T Cells Using Fluorescent CD1d Tetramers

Kamel Benlaghaa, Angela Weissa, Andrew Beavisa, Luc Teytonb, and Albert Bendelaca
a Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
b Department of Immunology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037

Correspondence to: Albert Bendelac, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton, NJ 08544. Tel:609-258-5454 Fax:609-258-2205 E-mail:abendelac{at}molbio.princeton.edu.

The CD1 family of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-like molecules specializes in presenting lipid and glycolipid antigens to {alpha}/ß T lymphocytes, but little is known about the size of the CD1-restricted T cell population or the frequency of T lymphocytes specific for a given glycolipid antigen. Here, we report the generation and use of mouse CD1d1–glycolipid tetramers to visualize CD1d-restricted T cells. In contrast with previous BIAcore-based estimates of very short half-lives for CD1d–glycolipid complexes, we found that the dissociation rate of several different CD1d–glycolipid complexes was very slow. Fluorescent tetramers of mouse CD1d1 complexed with {alpha}-galactosylceramide ({alpha}GalCer), the antigen recognized by mouse V{alpha}14-J{alpha}281/Vß8 and human V{alpha}24-J{alpha}Q/Vß11 natural killer T (NKT) cell T cell receptors (TCRs), allowed us for the first time to accurately describe, based on TCR specificity, the entire population of NKT cells in vivo and to identify a previously unrecognized population of NK1.1-negative "NKT" cells, which expressed a different pattern of integrins. In contrast, natural killer (NK) cells failed to bind the tetramers either empty or loaded with {alpha}GalCer, suggesting the absence of a CD1d-specific, antigen-nonspecific NK receptor. Mouse CD1d1–{alpha}GalCer tetramers also stained human NKT cells, indicating that they will be useful for probing a range of mouse and human conditions such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, tumor rejection, and infectious diseases where NKT cells play an important role.

Key Words: T cell development, T cell receptor, V{alpha}14 NKT cell, natural killer cell, antigen presentation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search
TABLE OF CONTENTS