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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

An Optimized Method for Isolating and Expanding Invariant Natural Killer T Cells from Mouse Spleen
Published on: October 29, 2015
Intrinsic factors and CD1d1 but not CD1d2 expression levels control invariant natural killer T cell subset
Ludivine Amable1, Luis Antonio Ferreira Martins1, Remi Pierre2
1Université Paris Cité, Institut de Recherche Saint-Louis (IRSL), EMiLy, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Invariant natural killer T (NKT) cell subsets are defined based on their cytokine-production profiles and transcription factors. Their distribution is different in C57BL/6 (B6) and BALB/c mice, with a bias for NKT1 and NKT2/NKT17 subsets, respectively. Here, we show that the non-classical class I-like major histocompatibility complex CD1 molecules CD1d2, expressed in BALB/c and not in B6 mice, could not account for this difference. We find however that NKT cell subset distribution is intrinsic to bone marrow derived NKT cells, regardless of syngeneic CD1d-ligand recognition, and that multiple intrinsic factors are likely involved. Finally, we find that CD1d expression levels in combination with T cell antigen receptor signal strength could also influence NKT cell distribution and function. Overall, this study indicates that CD1d-mediated TCR signals and other intrinsic signals integrate to influence strain-specific NKT cell differentiation programs and subset distributions.
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