title: Role of NKT cells in anterior chamber-associated immune deviation.
abstract: Cells in the eye have a limited capacity for regeneration and, as such, immune-mediated inflammation can lead to blindness. The eye is designed to quench immune-mediated inflammation - a condition known as immune privilege. An important component of immune privilege is the dynamic immunoregulatory process termed anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID), which is initiated when antigens enter the eye. ACAID suppresses the initiation of antigen-specific inflammation in the eye and the effector stages of immune reactions. Four organ systems are crucial for the induction of ACAID: the eye, thymus, spleen and sympathetic nervous system. Multiple cell populations contribute to ACAID, with natural killer T cells playing a crucial role in the thymic and splenic phases of ACAID. Interactions between natural killer T cells and multiple cell populations in the spleen culminate in the tight regulation of immune-mediated inflammation in the eye and the preservation of vision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA, Tel.: +1 214 648 3829, , jerry.niederkorn@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Jerry Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Niederkorn