Natural Sphingomonas glycolipids vary greatly in their ability to activate natural killer T cells.
Mouse natural killer T (NKT) cells expressing an invariant T cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognize glycosphingolipids (GSLs) from Sphingomonas bacteria. The synthetic antigens previously tested, however, were designed to closely resemble the potent synthetic agonist alpha-galactosyl ceramide (alphaGalCer), which contains a monosaccharide and a C18:0 sphingosine lipid. Some Sphingomonas bacteria, however, also have oligosaccharide-containing GSLs, and they normally synthesize several GSLs with different sphingosine chains including one with a cyclopropyl ring-containing C21:0 (C21cycl) sphingosine. Here we studied the stimulation of NKT cells with synthetic GSL antigens containing natural tetrasaccharide sugars, or the C21cycl sphingosine. Our results indicate that there is a great degree of variability in the antigenic potency of different natural Sphingomonas glycolipids, with the C21cycl sphingosine having intermediate potency and the oligosaccharide-containing antigens exhibiting limited or no stimulatory capacity.
Kinjo
Yuki
Y
Division of Developmental Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Pei
Bo
B
Bufali
Simone
S
Raju
Ravinder
R
Richardson
Stewart K
SK
Imamura
Masakazu
M
Fujio
Masakazu
M
Wu
Douglass
D
Khurana
Archana
A
Kawahara
Kazuyoshi
K
Wong
Chi-Huey
CH
Howell
Amy R
AR
Seeberger
Peter H
PH
Kronenberg
Mitchell
M
D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000737:chemistry; D002460:Cell Line; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology*; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D020578:Sphingomonas / Q000378:metabolism*
D000941:Antigens; D016207:Cytokines; D006017:Glycolipids; D008055:Lipids; D009844:Oligosaccharides