title: Cutting edge: influence of the TCR V beta domain on the avidity of CD1d:alpha-galactosylceramide binding by invariant V alpha 14 NKT cells.
abstract: CD1d tetramers loaded with alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) bind selectively to mouse invariant Valpha14 (Valpha14i) NKT cells and their human counterparts. Whereas tetramer binding strictly depends on the expression of a Valpha14-Jalpha18 chain in murine NKT cells, the associated beta-chain (typically expressing Vbeta8.2 or Vbeta7) appears not to influence tetramer binding. In this study, we describe novel alpha-GalCer-loaded mouse and human CD1d-IgG1 dimers, which revealed an unexpected influence of the TCR-beta chain on the avidity of CD1d:alpha-GalCer binding. A subset of Valpha14i NKT cells clearly discriminated alpha-GalCer bound to mouse or human CD1d on the basis of avidity differences conferred by the Vbeta domain of the TCR-beta chain, with Vbeta8.2 conferring higher avidity binding than Vbeta7.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, Epalinges, Switzerland. BD Biosciences PharMingen, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schümann
authors.forename: Roger B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Voyle
authors.forename: Bing-Yuan
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: H Robson
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018949:Antigens, CD1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D055610:Antigens, CD1d; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000276:immunology; D019281:Dimerization; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D005699:Galactosylceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000502:physiology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000502:physiology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D018949:Antigens, CD1; D055610:Antigens, CD1d; C526877:CD1D protein, human; D005699:Galactosylceramides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; C109168:T-cell receptor Vbeta 8.2