All issues > Volume 53(2); 2010

Review Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2010;53(2):136-145. Published online February 15, 2010.

Natural killer T cell and pathophysiology of asthma

Gwang Cheon GC Jang¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, NHIC Ilsan Hospital, Ilsan, Korea

Correspondence Gwang Cheon GC Jang ,Tel: +82.31-900-0520, Fax: 031-900-0343, Email: janggwangcheon@daum.net

Abstract

Natural killer T (NKT) cell is a special type of T lymphocytes that has both receptor of natural killer (NK) cell (NK1.1, CD161c) and T cell (TCR) and express a conserved or invariant T cell receptor called Vα14Jα18 in mice or Va24 in humans. Invariant NKT (iNKT) cell recognizes lipid antigen presented by CD1d molecules. Marine-sponge-derived glycolipid, α- galactosylceremide (α-GalCer), binds CD1d at the cell surface of antigen-presenting cells and is presented to iNKT cells. Within hours, iNKT cells become activated and start to secrete Interleukin-4 and interferon-γ. NKT cell prevents autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, systemic lupus erythematous, inflammatory colitis, and Graves' thyroiditis, by activation with α-GalCer. In addition, NKT cell is associated with infectious diseases by mycobacteria, leshmania, and virus. Moreover NKT cell is associated with asthma, especially CD4+ iNKT cells. In this review, I will discuss the characteristics of NKT cell and the association with inflammatory diseases, especially asthma.

Keywords :NKT cell, Asthma, CD1d molecule, α-GalCer