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Updated: May 17, 2026

Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
Innate-like behavior of human invariant natural killer T cells during herpes simplex virus infection
Lucie Novakova1, Zuzana Nevoralova, Jan Novak
1Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, CD1d restricted T cells, are involved in the immune responses against various infection agents. Here we describe their behavior during reactivation of human herpes simplex virus (HSV). iNKT cells exhibit only discrete changes, which however, reached statistically significant level due to the relatively large patient group. Higher percentage of iNKT cells express NKG2D. iNKT cells down-regulate NKG2A in a subset of patients. Finally, iNKT cells enhance their capacity to produce TNF-α. Our data suggests that iNKT cells are involved in the immune response against HSV and contribute mainly to its early, innate phase.
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