CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, School of Life Sciences and Medical Center, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China.
Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Hefei, 230027, China.
Front Med. 2018 Jun;12(3):249-261. doi: 10.1007/s11684-018-0622-3. Epub 2018 Apr 6.
Natural killer T cells are innate-like and tissue-resident lymphocytes, which recognize lipid antigens and are enriched in the liver. Natural killer T cells play important roles in infections, tumors, autoimmune diseases, and metabolic diseases. In this study, we summarize recent findings on biology of natural killer T cells and their roles in hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection, autoimmune liver diseases, alcoholic liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Controversial results from previous studies are discussed, and indicate the dynamic alteration in the role of natural killer T cells during the progression of liver diseases, which might be caused by changes in natural killer T subsets, factors skewing cytokine responses, and intercellular crosstalk between natural killer T cells and CD1d-expressing cells or bystander cells.
自然杀伤 T 细胞是先天样和组织驻留的淋巴细胞，识别脂质抗原，在肝脏中富集。自然杀伤 T 细胞在感染、肿瘤、自身免疫性疾病和代谢性疾病中发挥重要作用。在这项研究中，我们总结了自然杀伤 T 细胞的生物学及其在乙型肝炎病毒和丙型肝炎病毒感染、自身免疫性肝病、酒精性肝病、非酒精性脂肪性肝病和肝细胞癌中的作用的最新发现。讨论了先前研究中的争议结果，并表明自然杀伤 T 细胞在肝病进展过程中的作用发生了动态变化，这可能是由于自然杀伤 T 细胞亚群的变化、影响细胞因子反应的因素、自然杀伤 T 细胞与表达 CD1d 的细胞或旁观者细胞之间的细胞间串扰引起的。
