Open AccessCD36 family members are TCR-independent ligands for CD1 antigen–presenting molecules
Author(s) -
Nicholas A. Gherardin,
Samuel Redmond,
Hamish E G McWilliam,
Catarina Almeida,
Katherine H. A. Gourley,
Rebecca Seneviratna,
Shihan Li,
Robert De Rose,
Fiona Ross,
Catrioguyen-Robertson,
Shian Su,
Matthew E. Ritchie,
José A Villadangos,
D. Branch Moody,
Daniel G. Pellicci,
Adam P. Uldrich,
Dale I. Godfrey
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
science immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.83
H-Index - 51
ISSN - 2470-9468
DOI - 10.1126/sciimmunol.abg4176
Subject(s) - cd1 , cd1d , biology , t cell receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , antigen , natural killer t cell , cytotoxic t cell , t cell , cd36 , receptor , immunology , immune system , in vitro , cd8 , biochemistry
CD1c presents lipid-based antigens to CD1c-restricted T cells, which are thought to be a major component of the human T cell pool. However, the study of CD1c-restricted T cells is hampered by the presence of an abundantly expressed, non-T cell receptor (TCR) ligand for CD1c on blood cells, confounding analysis of TCR-mediated CD1c tetramer staining. Here, we identified the CD36 family (CD36, SR-B1, and LIMP-2) as ligands for CD1c, CD1b, and CD1d proteins and showed that CD36 is the receptor responsible for non-TCR-mediated CD1c tetramer staining of blood cells. Moreover, CD36 blockade clarified tetramer-based identification of CD1c-restricted T cells and improved identification of CD1b- and CD1d-restricted T cells. We used this technique to characterize CD1c-restricted T cells ex vivo and showed diverse phenotypic features, TCR repertoire, and antigen-specific subsets. Accordingly, this work will enable further studies into the biology of CD1 and human CD1-restricted T cells.