Journal article

Diverse cytokine production by NKT cell subsets and identification of an IL-17-producing CD4(-)NK1.1(-) NKT cell population

Jonathan M Coquet, Sumone Chakravarti, Konstantinos Kyparissoudis, Finlay W McNab, Lauren A Pitt, Brent S McKenzie, Stuart P Berzins, Mark J Smyth, Dale I Godfrey

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | NATL ACAD SCIENCES | Published : 2008

Abstract

NKT cell subsets can be divided based on CD4 and NK1.1 expression and tissue of origin, but the developmental and functional relationships between the different subsets still are poorly understood. A comprehensive study of 19 cytokines across different NKT cell subsets revealed that no two NKT subpopulations exhibited the same cytokine profile, and, remarkably, the amounts of each cytokine produced varied by up to 100-fold or more among subsets. This study also revealed the existence of a population of CD4(-)NK1.1(-) NKT cells that produce high levels of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17 within 2-3 h of activation. On intrathymic transfer these cells develop into mature CD4(-)NK1.1(+) but n..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)


Funding Acknowledgements

We thank Alice Denton and Dr. Stephen Turner for help with quantitative RT-PCR, Ken Field for flow cytometric support, and David Taylor for animal husbandry. This research was funded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Program Grant 251608, renewed as 454569. J.M.C. and L.A.P. are supported by Cancer Research Institute postgraduate scholarships. S.C. and S.P.B. are supported by NHMRC Career Development Awards. F.M. is supported by an NHMRC Dora Lush Postgraduate Fellowship. D.I.G. and M.J.S. are supported by NHMRC Research Fellowships. We also thank the Picchi Brothers Foundation for generous contributions to the Flow Cytometry Facility.