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Review

Natural Killer T (NKT) Cells in Mice and Men

Nicola M. Heller, Rosa Berga-Bolanos, Lynette Naler, Jyoti Misra Sen
Jonathan Soboloff, Dietmar J. Kappes
, editors.
In: Signaling Mechanisms Regulating T Cell Diversity and Function. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2018. Chapter 8.
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Review

Natural Killer T (NKT) Cells in Mice and Men

Nicola M. Heller et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Natural killer T (NKT) cells are innate natural killer (NK)-like cells that express a limited repertoire of T cell receptors (TCRs). Akin to other innate cells, NKT cells acquire functional characteristics during development in the thymus. Similar to mature effector T cells, murine NKT cells have been subdivided into effector subsets based on expression of transcription factors Gata3, RORγt, or Tbet, and by the cytokine expression. In this chapter we have attempted to place the available research on human and murine NKT cells side by side even though making direct connections remains challenging, as research in the two species has progressed independently.

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