Invariant Natural Killer T Cells

Patricia Barral from Cancer Research UK Identifies Novel Role for CD169+ Macrophages

Feb. 01, 2011

Tracking of natural killer T cells in lymph node using Imaris. Invariant natural killer T cells (red) were adoptively transferred into wild-type recipients with wild-type B cells (blue). Lipid antigen (green) was injected 16 h after adoptive transfer. Invariant natural killer T cells are confined in the lymph node periphery in response to lipid antigen and get arrested around antigen-rich areas. A 3-D reconstruction of a lymph node region is shown with the tracks of natural killer T cells (pale red) and B cells (blue) during a 20-minute imaging period.

Tracking of natural killer T cells in lymph node using Imaris. Invariant natural killer T cells ... more

Patricia Barral and her colleagues study the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling lymphocyte activation and eventual fate. Knowledge of these processes is invaluable not only in increasing our understanding of the causes of cancer but also in the treatment and prevention of infectious and autoimmune diseases. The Lymphocyte Interaction Laboratory was the first team to establish a role for a group of macrophages in acquiring antigen and presenting intact antigen to follicular B cells in lymph nodes in vivo. Now, they have identified a novel role for CD169+ macrophages in activating Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells.

Using Bitplane Imaris Barral and her co-workers transformed image stacks acquired from multi-photon examination of the lymph nodes into volume-rendered 4-D movies for analysis. Cell movement was automatically tracked and the Imaris software also calculated average and instantaneous cell speeds together with displacement and the confinement index. Imaris was also able to demonstrate the confinement of the iNKT cells in the vicinity of the CD169+ macrophages following administration of particulate lipid antigen by reconstructing the lymph nodes in three dimensions.

In these studies, the research team successfully used Imaris to visualize the long-standing interactions between CD169+ macrophages and iNKT cells and found very fast iNKT activation and cytokine secretion. These processes are probably very important factors during the early stages of immune responses and host defence

Reference
P. Barral, et al.: "CD169+ macrophages present lipid antigens to mediate early activation of iNKT cells in lymph nodes," Nature Immunology 11(4), 303-312 (2010)

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Invariant Natural Killer T Cells

Patricia Barral from Cancer Research UK Identifies Novel Role for CD169+ Macrophages

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