The CD1d natural killer T-cell antigen presentation pathway is highly conserved between humans and rhesus macaques

摘要

Natural killer T (NKT) cells play an important role in controlling cancers, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. Although the rhesus macaque is a useful primate model for many human diseases such as infectious and autoimmune diseases, little is known about their NKT cells. We analyzed Vα24TCR+ T cells from rhesus macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) and interleukin-2. We found that rhesus macaques possess Vα24TCR+ T cells, suggesting that recognition of α-GalCer is highly conserved between rhesus macaques and humans. The amino acid sequences of the V–J junction for the Vα24TCR of rhesus macaque and human NKT cells are highly conserved (93% similarity), and the CD1d α1–α2 domains of both species are highly homologous (95.6%). These findings indicate that the rhesus macaque is a useful primate model for understanding the contribution of NKT cells to the control of human diseases.