Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2005 Sep;115(9):2328-9.
doi: 10.1172/JCI26297.

Activation or anergy: NKT cells are stunned by alpha-galactosylceramide

Barbara A Sullivan  1 , Mitchell Kronenberg
Affiliations
Comment

Activation or anergy: NKT cells are stunned by alpha-galactosylceramide

Barbara A Sullivan et al. J Clin Invest. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are T lymphocytes that behave similarly to cells of the innate immune system. The glycolipid alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) is a potent and specific activator of mouse and human iNKT cells and has been used in cancer clinical trials to drive NKT cell-mediated immune responses. However, little is known about the dynamics of the iNKT cell response to alpha-GalCer in vivo. In this issue of the JCI, Parekh and colleagues demonstrate that administration of alpha-GalCer causes iNKT cells to become unresponsive, for at least 1 month, in mice. This leads us to ask, should sequential administration of alpha-GalCer still be used to activate iNKT cells given the anergic state it has been shown here to induce? This intriguing article raises the issue of the avoidance of anergy induction in the design of treatment regimens that use alpha-GalCer as a specific activator of iNKT cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kronenberg M, Rudensky A. Regulation of immunity by self-reactive T cells. Nature. 2005;435:598–604. - PubMed
    1. Kobayashi E, Motoki K, Uchida T, Fukushima H, Koezuka Y. KRN7000, a novel immunomodulator, and its antitumor activities. Oncol. Res. 1995;7:529–534. - PubMed
    1. Fujii S, Shimizu K, Smith C, Bonifaz L, Steinman RM. Activation of natural killer T cells by alpha-galactosylceramide rapidly induces the full maturation of dendritic cells in vivo and thereby acts as an adjuvant for combined CD4 and CD8 T cell immunity to a coadministered protein. J. Exp. Med. 2003;198:267–279. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza G, et al. Natural killer T cell ligand alpha-galactosylceramide enhances protective immunity induced by malaria vaccines. J. Exp. Med. 2002;195:617–624. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sidobre S, et al. The T cell antigen receptor expressed by Valpha14i NKT cells has a unique mode of glycosphingolipid antigen recognition. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2004;101:12254–12259. - PMC - PubMed