title: Glycolipid presentation to natural killer T cells differs in an organ-dependent fashion.
abstract: It has been shown that dendritic cells (DCs) are able to present glycolipids to natural killer (NK) T cells in vivo. However, the essential role of DCs, as well as the role of other cells in glycolipid presentation, is unknown. Here, we show that DCs are the crucial antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for splenic NK T cells, whereas Kupffer cells are the key APCs for hepatic NK T cells. Both cell types stimulate cytokine production by NK T cells within 2 h of glycolipid administration, but only DCs are involved in the systemic, downstream responses to glycolipid administration. More specifically, CD8alpha+ DCs produce IL-12 in response to glycolipid presentation, which stimulates secondary IFN-gamma production by NK cells in different organs. Different APCs participate in glycolipid presentation to NK T cells in vivo but differ in their involvement in the overall glycolipid response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology, New York University School of Medicine, 341 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmieg
authors.forename: Guangli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Franck
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Rooijen
authors.forename: Moriya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005699:Galactosylceramides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009928:Organ Specificity
chemical_list: D005699:Galactosylceramides; C493154:alpha-galactosylceramide; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma