T Cell Activation by CD1 and Lipid Antigens [Hardcover]

There is increasing evidence that the CD1 system has been conserved throughout mammalian evolution and is capable of presenting structurally diverse diacyglycerol, sphingolipid, polyisoprenol and lipopeptide antigens. This volume provides a comprehensive discussion of these basic aspects of CD1 biology and summarizes the most recent research into the role of CD1 in infectious, autoimmune, allergic and neoplastic disease.

Section 1 - Molecular Biology.- Chapter 1 - Evolutionary Biology of the CD1.- Chapter 2 - Architecture of CD1 Proteins.- Chapter 3 - Structures and Biology of Self Lipid Antigens.- Chapter 4 - Structures and Functions of Microbial Lipid Antigens.- Section 2 - Cellular Biology.- Chapter 5 - CD1 Expression on Antigen Presenting Cells.- Chapter 6 - Pathways of CD1 and Lipid Antigen Delivery, Trafficking, Processing, Loading and Presentation.- Chapter 7 - TCR-Mediated Recognition of Glycolipid CD1 Complexes.- Chapter 8 - Development and Selection of Va14i NKT Cells.- Section 3 - Disease.- Chapter 9 - CD1-Restricted T Cells in Host Defense to Infectious Diseases.- Chapter 10 - NKT Cells and Autoimmune Diseases: Unraveling the Complexity.- Chapter 11 - iNKT Cells in Allergic Disease.- Chapter 12 - CD1-Restricted T Cells and Tumor Immunity.- Chapter 13 - Harnessing NKT Cells for Therapeutic Applications.- Subject index

For decades, T cells were thought to solely respond to protein-derived antigens. However, the discovery of the CD1 antigen presenting system shows how antigen presenting cells can display lipid antigens to T cells. Crystal structures show that CD1 proteins accomplish this function by inserting lipids into a hydrophobic groove on the distal surface of the protein, forming CD1-lipid complexes that act as ligands for T cell receptors. CD1-reactive T cells with conserved (NK T cells) or diverse T cell receptors possess cytokine secretion and other effector mechanisms that influence many aspects of immune response. TherelC†