TY - JOUR
T1 - Crosstalk between type II NKT cells and T cells leads to spontaneous chronic inflammatory liver disease
AU - Weng, Xiufang
AU - He, Ying
AU - Visvabharathy, Lavanya
AU - Liao, Chia Min
AU - Tan, Xiaosheng
AU - Balakumar, Arjun
AU - Wang, Chyung Ru
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [NIH grant R01AI43407 to C.-R.W.] and National Nature Science Foundation of China [NSFC grant 31570913 to X. W.]
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [NIH grant R01AI43407 to C.-R.W.] and National Nature Science Foundation of China [NSFC grant 31570913 to X. W.]
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 European Association for the Study of the Liver
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Background & Aim Natural killer T (NKT) cells are CD1d-restricted innate-like T cells that modulate innate and adaptive immune responses. Unlike the well-characterized invariant/type I NKT cells, type II NKT cells with a diverse T cell receptor repertoire are poorly understood. This study defines the pathogenic role of type II NKT cells in the etiology of chronic liver inflammation. Methods Transgenic mice with the Lck promoter directing CD1d overexpression on T cells in Jα18 wild-type (Lck-CD1dTgJα18+; type I NKT cell sufficient) and Jα18-deficient (Lck-CD1dTgJα18o, type I NKT cell deficient) mice were analyzed for liver pathology and crosstalk between type II NKT cells and conventional T cells. CD1d expression on T cells in peripheral blood samples and liver sections from autoimmune hepatitis patients and healthy individuals were also examined. Results Lck-CD1dTgJα18o and Lck-CD1dTgJα18+ mice developed similar degrees of liver pathology resembling chronic autoimmune hepatitis in humans. Increased CD1d expression on T cells promoted the activation of type II NKT cells and other T cells. This resulted in Th1-skewing and impaired Th2 cytokine production in type II NKT cells. Dysfunction of type II NKT cells was accompanied by conventional T cell activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production, leading to a hepatic T/B lymphocyte infiltration, elevated autoantibodies and hepatic injury in Lck-CD1dTg mice. A similar mechanism could be extended to humans as CD1d expression is upregulated on activated human T cells and increased presence of CD1d-expressing T cells was observed in autoimmune hepatitis patients. Conclusions Our data reveals enhanced crosstalk between type II NKT cells and conventional T cells, leading to a Th1-skewed inflammatory milieu, and consequently, to the development of chronic autoimmune liver disease. Lay summary: CD1d overexpression on T cells enhances crosstalk between type II NKT cells and T cells, resulting in their aberrant activation and leading to the development of chronic autoimmune liver disease.
AB - Background & Aim Natural killer T (NKT) cells are CD1d-restricted innate-like T cells that modulate innate and adaptive immune responses. Unlike the well-characterized invariant/type I NKT cells, type II NKT cells with a diverse T cell receptor repertoire are poorly understood. This study defines the pathogenic role of type II NKT cells in the etiology of chronic liver inflammation. Methods Transgenic mice with the Lck promoter directing CD1d overexpression on T cells in Jα18 wild-type (Lck-CD1dTgJα18+; type I NKT cell sufficient) and Jα18-deficient (Lck-CD1dTgJα18o, type I NKT cell deficient) mice were analyzed for liver pathology and crosstalk between type II NKT cells and conventional T cells. CD1d expression on T cells in peripheral blood samples and liver sections from autoimmune hepatitis patients and healthy individuals were also examined. Results Lck-CD1dTgJα18o and Lck-CD1dTgJα18+ mice developed similar degrees of liver pathology resembling chronic autoimmune hepatitis in humans. Increased CD1d expression on T cells promoted the activation of type II NKT cells and other T cells. This resulted in Th1-skewing and impaired Th2 cytokine production in type II NKT cells. Dysfunction of type II NKT cells was accompanied by conventional T cell activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production, leading to a hepatic T/B lymphocyte infiltration, elevated autoantibodies and hepatic injury in Lck-CD1dTg mice. A similar mechanism could be extended to humans as CD1d expression is upregulated on activated human T cells and increased presence of CD1d-expressing T cells was observed in autoimmune hepatitis patients. Conclusions Our data reveals enhanced crosstalk between type II NKT cells and conventional T cells, leading to a Th1-skewed inflammatory milieu, and consequently, to the development of chronic autoimmune liver disease. Lay summary: CD1d overexpression on T cells enhances crosstalk between type II NKT cells and T cells, resulting in their aberrant activation and leading to the development of chronic autoimmune liver disease.
KW - Autoimmune hepatitis
KW - CD1d
KW - Liver inflammation
KW - NKT cells
KW - Transgenic/knockout mice
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.05.024
DO - 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.05.024
M3 - Article
C2 - 28596110
AN - SCOPUS:85023599008
VL - 67
SP - 791
EP - 800
JO - Journal of Hepatology
JF - Journal of Hepatology
SN - 0168-8278
IS - 4
ER -
