Requirement for V α 14 NKT Cells in IL-12-Mediated Rejection of Tumors

作者：Junqing Cui, Tahiro Shin, Tetsu Kawano, Hiroshi Sato, Eisuke Kondo, Isao Toura, Yoshikatsu Kaneko, Haruhiko Koseki, Masamoto Kanno, Masaru Taniguchi · 发表于：Science · 年份：1997 · DOI：10.1126/science.278.5343.1623 · 被引用次数：1239 · 研究领域：Immune Cell Function and Interaction、CAR-T cell therapy research、T-cell and B-cell Immunology

A lymphocyte subpopulation, the Valpha14 natural killer T (NKT) cells, expresses both NK1.1 and a single invariant T cell receptor encoded by the Valpha14 and Jalpha281 gene segments. Mice with a deletion of the Jalpha281 gene segment were found to exclusively lack this subpopulation. The Valpha14 NKT cell-deficient mice could no longer mediate the interleukin-12 (IL-12)-induced rejection of tumors. Although the antitumor effect of IL-12 was thought to be mediated through natural killer cells and T cells, Valpha14 NKT cells were found to be an essential target of IL-12, and they mediated their cytotoxicity by an NK-like effector mechanism after activation with IL-12.