Open AccessSynthetic glycolipid activators of natural killer T cells as immunotherapeutic agents
Author(s) -
Carreño Leandro J,
SaavedraÁvila Noemí A,
Porcelli Steven A
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
clinical and translational immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.321
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2050-0068
DOI - 10.1038/cti.2016.14
Subject(s) - cd1d , glycolipid , immune system , natural killer t cell , immunology , biology , immunotherapy , acquired immune system , cancer immunotherapy , effector , major histocompatibility complex , antigen , microbiology and biotechnology , t cell
Certain types of glycolipids have been found to have remarkable immunomodulatory properties as a result of their ability to activate specific T lymphocyte populations with an extremely wide range of immune effector properties. The most extensively studied glycolipid reactive T cells are known as invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. The antigen receptors of these cells specifically recognize certain glycolipids, most notably glycosphingolipids with α‐anomeric monosaccharides, presented by the major histocompatibility complex class I‐like molecule CD1d. Once activated, iNKT cells can secrete a very diverse array of pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines to modulate innate and adaptive immune responses. Thus, glycolipid‐mediated activation of iNKT cells has been explored for immunotherapy in a variety of disease states, including cancer and a range of infections. In this review, we discuss the design of synthetic glycolipid activators for iNKT cells, their impact on adaptive immune responses and their use to modulate iNKT cell responses to improve immunity against infections and cancer. Current challenges in translating results from preclinical animal studies to humans are also discussed.