Invariant natural killer T cells act as an extravascular cytotoxic barrier for joint-invading Lyme Borrelia.

Author:

Lee, WY, Sanz, MJ, Wong, CH, Hardy, PO, Salman-Dilgimen, A, Moriarty, TJ, Chaconas, G, Marques, A, Krawetz, R, Mody, CH, and Kubes, P

Publication type:

Journal Article

Publication date:

2014-09

Journal/Series title:

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Volume:

111

Issue:

URL:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183287/

Abstract:

Successful penetrance of B. burgdorferi out of the vasculature and into the joint tissue was met by a lethal attack by extravascular iNKT cells through a granzyme-dependent pathway, an observation also made in vitro for iNKT cells from joint but not liver or spleen. These results suggest a novel, critical extravascular iNKT cell immune surveillance in joints that functions as a cytotoxic barrier and explains a large increase in pathogen burden of B. burgdorferi in the joint of iNKT cell-deficient mice, and perhaps the greater susceptibility of humans to this pathogen because of fewer iNKT cells in human joints.