NKT10 hücre gelişimini ve fonksiyonunu düzenleyen transkripsiyon faktörlerinin belirlenmesi

Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells are a distinct population immune cells that share the characteristics of both adaptive T cells and innate Natural Killer (NK) cells. They express semi-invariant ab T-cell receptor (TCR) and several NK cell receptors. Unlike conventional T cells that recognise protein fragments, iNKT cells recognise glycolipid antigens presented by the non-polymorphic MHC class I-like molecule, CD1d. There are five main iNKT cell subsets: NKT1, NKT2, NKT17, NKTFH, and NKT10 cells. These subsets express unique set of transcription factors and produce a distinct combination of cytokines. Of these subsets, NKT10 cells are characterized by the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, as well as several proteins expressed by T regs . However, the master transcription factor for NKT10 cells is unknown. To better understand of how NKT10 cells are regulated, we studied the expression of the transcription factors CEBPa, E4BP4 and c-MAF in NKT10 cells at both protein and mRNA level. Our data indicate that c-MAF is the only one of these transcription factors that is specifically expressed in NKT10 cells. Moreover, we studied the TCR-dependent activation of iNKT cells by the model antigen a-GalCer by measuring the expression of Nur77 and CD3e. NKT1, NKT2, and NKT17 cells were activated withing 2 hours of a-GalCer injection and the route of the injection (intra- venous vs. intra-peritoneal) had no impact on the strength of the activation. These findings provide a better understanding of the functionality of NKT10 cells and iNKT cell activation. This will likely facilitate subsequent research and the development of NKT10 cell-based therapeutic approaches, for example for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.