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Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Specific Memory NKT Cells in Patients with Tuberculous Pleurisy

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Abstract

Natural killer T (NKT) cells from mouse and human play a protective role in the immune responses against the infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the characteristic of CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells at the local site of M. tuberculosis infection remains poorly defined. In the present study, we found that the numbers of CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells in pleural fluid mononuclear cells (PFMCs) were significantly lower than those in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). However, CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells from PFMCs spontaneously expressed high levels of CD69 and CD25 and effector memory phenotypes of CD45ROhighCD62LlowCCR7low. After stimulation with the antigens of M. tuberculosis, CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells from PFMCs produced high levels of IFN-γ. Sorted CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells from PFMCs cultured with antigen presenting cells (APCs) produced IFN-γ protein and mRNA. The production of IFN-γ could be completely inhibited by AG490 and Wortmannin. In addition, CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells from PFMCs expressed higher levels of Fas (CD95), FasL (CD178) and perforin but lower levels of granzyme B compared with those from PBMCs. Taken together, our data demonstrated for the first time that M. tuberculosis-specific CD3+TCRvβ11+ NKT cells participated in the local immune responses against M. tuberculosis through the production of IFN-γ and the secretion of cytolytic molecules.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the patients and healthy volunteers for their perseverance and commitment to this study. This study was supported by a grant from Program of China during the twelfth Five-Year Plan Period (2013ZX10003007-002-003) and the grant from the introduction of innovative R&D team program of Guangdong Province (2009010058).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Immunology, Zhongshan School of Medicine; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control Research of Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

    Zitao Li, Binyan Yang, Yannan Zhang, Jiangjun Ma & Changyou Wu

  2. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Guangdong Medical College, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

    Xinchun Chen

  3. Chest Hospital of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Suihua Lao

  4. Department of Immunology, Research Center of Immunology, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, People’s Republic of China

    Baiqing Li

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  1. Zitao Li
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Correspondence to Changyou Wu.

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Li, Z., Yang, B., Zhang, Y. et al. Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Specific Memory NKT Cells in Patients with Tuberculous Pleurisy. J Clin Immunol 34, 979–990 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-014-0090-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-014-0090-8

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