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Disparate effect of beige mutation on cytotoxic function between natural killer and natural killer T cells
Author(s) -
Bannai M.,
Oya H.,
Kawamura T.,
Naito T.,
Shimizu T.,
Kawamura H.,
Miyaji C.,
Watanabe H.,
Hatakeyama K.,
Abo T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2567.2000.00040.x
Subject(s) - perforin , cytotoxicity , cytotoxic t cell , biology , lymphokine activated killer cell , interleukin 21 , interleukin 12 , natural killer cell , natural killer t cell , nk 92 , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , biochemistry
Beige mice lack natural killer (NK) cytotoxicity, although NK cells are normally present. In recent studies, NK T cells have been newly identified. We therefore examined the number and function of NK T cells in beige mice. The number of NK T cells was at a normal level in the liver of beige mice. NK cytotoxicity was decreased in the liver of these mice, whereas NK T cytotoxicity was intact. When immunochemical staining for perforin was conducted, the majority of NK cells and the minority of NK T cells in beige mice carried a giant granule, containing perforin, in the cytoplasm. In the case of control B6 mice, the majority of NK cells and the minority of NK T cells had multiple, dispersed granules containing perforin. These results suggest that NK T cytotoxicity is unaffected by the beige mutation, owing to their cytotoxicity being mediated without the secretion system of perforin.