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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Interview: Glycolipid Antigen Presentation by CD1d and the Therapeutic Potential of NKT cell Activation
Published on: January 1, 2008
Lymphocyte activation via NKG2D: towards a new paradigm in immune recognition?
Eric Vivier1, Elena Tomasello, Pascale Paul
1Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, CNRS-INSERM-Université de la Méditerrannée, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, Case 906, 13288, Cedex 09, Marseille, France. vivier@ciml.univ-mrs.fr
Abstract:
NKG2D is an activating cell surface receptor expressed on a wide range of immune effector cells including NK cells, NKT cells, gammadelta T cells as well as CD8(+) alphabeta T cells. Recent data indicate two major features: first, that human (MICA, MICB and ULBP) and mouse (Rae1 and H60) NKG2D ligands can be induced and/or upregulated upon cellular distress; and second, that on T cells NKG2D serves as a co-stimulation molecule for TCR triggering, whereas on NK cells NKG2D may act as a primary recognition structure.
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