A subset of CD8α/β+ invariant NKT cells in a humanized mouse model

Xiangshu Wen, Seil Kim, Ran Xiong, Michelle Li, Agnieszka Lawrenczyk, Xue Huang, Si Yi Chen, Ping Rao, Gurdyal S. Besra, Paolo Dellabona, Giulia Casorati, Steven A. Porcelli, Omid Akbari, Mark A. Exley, Weiming Yuan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells are unconventional innate-like T cells demonstrating potent antitumor function in conventional mouse models. However, the iNKT cell ligands have had limited efficacy in human antitumor clinical trials, mostly due to the profound differences in the properties and compositions of iNKT cells between the two species, including the presence of a CD8+ subset of iNKT cells only in humans. To build reliable in vivo models for studying human iNKT cells, we recently developed the first humanized mouse model (hCD1d-KI) with human CD1d knocked in. To further humanize the mouse model, we now introduced the human invariant NKT TCRa-chain (Va24Ja18) into the hCD1d-knockin mice. Similar to humans, this humanized mouse model developed a subset of CD8α/β+ iNKT cells among other human-like iNKT subsets. The presence of the CD8α/β+ iNKT cells in the thymus suggests that these cells developed in the thymus. In the periphery, these NKT cells showed a strong Th1-biased cytokine response and potent cytotoxicity for syngeneic tumor cells upon activation, as do human CD8α/β+ iNKT cells. The low binding avidity of iNKT TCRs to the human CD1d/lipid complex and high prevalence of Vb7 TCRb among the CD8+ iNKT cells strongly point to a low avidity-based developmental program for these iNKT cells, which included the suppression of Th-POK and upregulation of eomesodermin transcriptional factors. Our establishment of this extensively humanized mouse model phenotypically and functionally reflecting the human CD1d/iNKT TCR system will greatly facilitate the future design and optimization of iNKT cell-based immunotherapies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1459-1469
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume195
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 15 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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