title: Identification of invariant natural killer T cells in porcine peripheral blood.
abstract: The pig is a relevant preclinical model for numerous pathologies used to validate therapeutic strategies for translation to human. Although invariant natural killer T (iNKT) lymphocytes are a component of innate immunity implicated in many pathological processes, little is known on their characterization in swine. By addressing this issue using mouse α-galactosylceramide-loaded CD1d tetramers (α-GC-CD1dTT), which are commonly used to track iNKT cells, we were able to unequivocally identify CD3(+)α-GC-CD1dTT(+) cells in porcine peripheral blood, hereafter referred to as swine iNKT cells. These lymphocytes are enriched in CD4(-)CD8(+) and CD4(-)CD8(-) cells, harbor an activated-memory phenotype (SLA-DR(+)CD45RA(-)), express the intracellular promyelocytic-leukemia-zinc-finger (PLZF) transcription factor and are significantly enriched in IFN-γ-producing cells after in vitro activation in comparison with conventional T cells. Importantly, in presence of IL-2 and IL-15, the iNKT cell ligand α-GC induces selective expansion of CD3(+)α-GC-CD1dTT(+) cells, confirming the reactivity of swine iNKT cells against α-GC. When associated with α-GC, IL-33, an alarmin of IL-1 family recently described to target iNKT cells, leads to a greater expansion of CD3(+)α-GC-CD1dTT(+) cells than IL-2 and IL-15. Altogether, our results provide the first phenotypic and functional description of swine iNKT cells allowing to further study the critical role of iNKT cells in porcine models of organ injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Transplantation, CHU of Poitiers, 86021 Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thierry
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giraud
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minouflet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bridoux
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hauet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Touchard
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herbelin
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gombert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055610:Antigens, CD1d / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000662:veterinary; D005699:Galactosylceramides / Q000276:immunology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013552:Swine / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D055610:Antigens, CD1d; D016207:Cytokines; D005699:Galactosylceramides; C493154:alpha-galactosylceramide