Journal article

Peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are mature and functionally distinct from their thymic counterparts

Finlay W McNab, Daniel G Pellicci, Kenneth Field, Gurdyal Besra, Mark I Smyth, Dale I Godfrey, Stuart P Berzins

JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY | AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS | Published : 2007

Abstract

One interesting aspect of NKT cell development is that although they are thymus dependent, the pivotal transition from NK1.1(-) to NK1.1(+) can often take place after immature NK1.1(-) NKT cells are exported to the periphery. NK1.1(-) NKT cells in general are regarded as immature precursors of NK1.1(+) NKT cells, meaning that peripheral NK1.1(-) NKT cells are regarded as a transient, semimature population of recent thymic emigrant NKT cells. In this study, we report the unexpected finding that most NK1.1(-) NKT cells in the periphery of naive mice are actually part of a stable, mature and functionally distinct NKT cell population. Using adult thymectomy, we show that the size of the peripher..

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