Harnessing NKT cells for vaccination
Olivia K. Burn, Theresa E. Pankhurst, Gavin F. Painter, Lisa M. Connor, Ian F. Hermans
Abstract
Lay Summary Vaccine-induced immune responses generally involve activation of immune cells called T and B cells that have a variety of mechanisms to limit the infection. Each T or B cell has a randomly generated receptor for binding pathogen-derived antigens, but only a few cells with an individual’s repertoire of cells will recognize a given pathogen; the aim of vaccination is therefore to induce these few cells to undergo significant division to meet the demands of eliminating infection. However, some T cells called natural killer T (NKT) cells have receptors of similar structure that recognize specific glycolipids, and are found in high numbers in the tissues where immune reactions take place. Here we describe studies that show that these glycolipids can be added to vaccines to activate NKT cells, which have the net effect of improving vaccine responses. This is because NKT cells are poised to provide molecular signals that initiate a cascade of cellular interactions that ultimately improve the capacity of pathogen-specific T and B cells to divide and function. We describe different techniques that can be used to incorporate these compounds into vaccines, some limitations on their use, and new strategies to overcome these limitations.