4elk

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Glycolipids presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I homolog CD1d are recognized by natural killer T cells (NKT cells) characterized by either a semi-invariant T cell antigen receptor (TCR) repertoire (type I NKT cells or iNKT cells) or a relatively variable TCR repertoire (type II NKT cells). Here we describe the structure of a type II NKT cell TCR in complex with CD1d-lysosulfatide. Both TCR alpha-chains and TCR beta-chains made contact with the CD1d molecule with a diagonal footprint, typical of MHC-TCR interactions, whereas the antigen was recognized exclusively with a single TCR chain, similar to the iNKT cell TCR. Type II NKT cell TCRs, therefore, recognize CD1d-sulfatide complexes by a distinct recognition mechanism characterized by the TCR-binding features of both iNKT cells and conventional peptide-reactive T cells.

Type II natural killer T cells use features of both innate-like and conventional T cells to recognize sulfatide self antigens.,Girardi E, Maricic I, Wang J, Mac TT, Iyer P, Kumar V, Zajonc DM Nat Immunol. 2012 Sep;13(9):851-6. doi: 10.1038/ni.2371. Epub 2012 Jul 22. PMID:22820602^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.