Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada.
Institut D'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, 08036, Spain.
Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 7;13(1):3279. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30759-w.
Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells comprise a heterogeneous group of non-circulating, tissue-resident T lymphocytes that recognize glycolipids, including alpha-galactosylceramide (αGalCer), in the context of CD1d, but whether peripheral iNKT cell subsets are terminally differentiated remains unclear. Here we show that mouse and human liver-resident αGalCer/CD1d-binding iNKTs largely correspond to a novel Zbtb16Tbx21Gata3MafRorc subset that exhibits profound transcriptional, phenotypic and functional plasticity. Repetitive in vivo encounters of these liver iNKT (LiNKT) cells with intravenously delivered αGalCer/CD1d-coated nanoparticles (NP) trigger their differentiation into immunoregulatory, IL-10+IL-21-producing Zbtb16MafTbx21Gata3Rorc cells, termed LiNKTR1, expressing a T regulatory type 1 (TR1)-like transcriptional signature. This response is LiNKT-specific, since neither lung nor splenic tissue-resident iNKT cells from αGalCer/CD1d-NP-treated mice produce IL-10 or IL-21. Additionally, these LiNKTR1 cells suppress autoantigen presentation, and recognize CD1d expressed on conventional B cells to induce IL-10+IL-35-producing regulatory B (Breg) cells, leading to the suppression of liver and pancreas autoimmunity. Our results thus suggest that LiNKT cells are plastic for further functional diversification, with such plasticity potentially targetable for suppressing tissue-specific inflammatory phenomena.
不变自然杀伤 T(iNKT)细胞是一群异质性的非循环组织驻留 T 淋巴细胞,它们识别包括半乳糖基神经酰胺(αGalCer)在内的糖脂,在 CD1d 的背景下,但外周 iNKT 细胞亚群是否终末分化仍不清楚。在这里,我们表明,小鼠和人类肝脏驻留的αGalCer/CD1d 结合 iNKT 细胞在很大程度上对应于一种新型的 Zbtb16Tbx21Gata3MafRorc 亚群,该亚群表现出深刻的转录、表型和功能可塑性。这些肝脏 iNKT(LiNKT)细胞反复与静脉内给予的αGalCer/CD1d 包被的纳米颗粒(NP)接触,触发其分化为免疫调节、IL-10+IL-21 产生的 Zbtb16MafTbx21Gata3Rorc 细胞,称为 LiNKTR1,表达 T 调节型 1(TR1)样转录特征。这种反应是 LiNKT 特异性的,因为接受αGalCer/CD1d-NP 处理的小鼠的肺和脾组织驻留 iNKT 细胞均不产生 IL-10 或 IL-21。此外,这些 LiNKTR1 细胞抑制自身抗原呈递,并识别 CD1d 表达在常规 B 细胞上,诱导 IL-10+IL-35 产生的调节性 B(Breg)细胞,从而抑制肝脏和胰腺自身免疫。我们的结果表明,LiNKT 细胞具有进一步功能多样化的可塑性,这种可塑性可能成为抑制组织特异性炎症现象的靶点。