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Invariant natural killer T cells from rhesus macaque spleen and peripheral blood are phenotypically and functionally distinct populations
Author(s) -
Gansuvd Balgansuren,
Goodwin Jeanine,
Asiedu Clement K.,
Jiang Xiao Ling,
Jargal Uuganbayar,
Andrades Patricio,
Exley Mark A.,
Thomas Judith M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of medical primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1600-0684
pISSN - 0047-2565
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0684.2007.00222.x
Subject(s) - natural killer t cell , biology , spleen , immunology , rhesus macaque , immune system , flow cytometry , cd1d , cd8 , phenotype , cytokine , ex vivo , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , t cell , in vitro , gene , genetics
Background Natural killer T cells (NKT) possess dual functions of innate and adaptive immune systems, controlling viral infections and regulating autoimmune diseases. Non‐human primates (NHP) are penultimate models for advancing therapeutic immunoregulatory strategies for translational application in humans, though, little is known about NHP NKT cells. Here we characterized rhesus macaque NKT cells ex vivo . Methods The frequency, phenotype and intracellular cytokine production of V α 24 + 6B11 + invariant NKT (iNKT) cells were analyzed by multi‐color flow cytometry. V α 24J α Q mRNA expression was analyzed by real‐time RT‐PCR. Results The frequencies of peripheral blood (PB) and spleen V α 24 + 6B11 + iNKT cells were not significantly different. The iNKT cell subset in spleen was significantly increased for CD4 + CD8 + and CD3 + CD56 + co‐expression as well as intracellular interleukin‐4 production, which was rarely observed in circulating PB. Conclusion Spleen iNKT cells in rhesus macaques are Th2 biased and display phenotypically and functionally distinct profiles from their PB counterpart.