The Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Nat Immunol. 2013 Nov;14(11):1146-54. doi: 10.1038/ni.2731. Epub 2013 Oct 6.
Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) can produce copious amounts of interleukin 4 (IL-4) early during infection. However, indirect evidence suggests they may produce this immunomodulatory cytokine in the steady state. Through intracellular staining for transcription factors, we have defined three subsets of iNKT cells (NKT1, NKT2 and NKT17) that produced distinct cytokines; these represented diverse lineages and not developmental stages, as previously thought. These subsets exhibited substantial interstrain variation in numbers. In several mouse strains, including BALB/c, NKT2 cells were abundant and were stimulated by self ligands to produce IL-4. In those strains, steady-state IL-4 conditioned CD8(+) T cells to become 'memory-like', increased serum concentrations of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and caused dendritic cells to produce chemokines. Thus, iNKT cell-derived IL-4 altered immunological properties under normal steady-state conditions.
固有自然杀伤 T 细胞（iNKT 细胞）在感染早期可以大量产生白细胞介素 4（IL-4）。然而，间接证据表明它们在稳态下也可能产生这种免疫调节细胞因子。通过细胞内转录因子染色，我们已经定义了产生不同细胞因子的 iNKT 细胞（NKT1、NKT2 和 NKT17）三个亚群；这些亚群代表了不同的谱系，而不是以前认为的发育阶段。这些亚群在数量上存在明显的种间差异。在包括 BALB/c 在内的几种小鼠品系中，NKT2 细胞丰富，并被自身配体刺激产生 IL-4。在这些品系中，稳态下的 IL-4 使 CD8(+)T 细胞成为“记忆样”细胞，增加了血清免疫球蛋白 E（IgE）浓度，并促使树突状细胞产生趋化因子。因此，iNKT 细胞产生的 IL-4 在正常稳态条件下改变了免疫特性。
