NKT cells are associated with immunological control of autoimmune disease and cancer and can recognize cell surface mCD1d without addition of exogenous antigens. Cellular antigens presented by mCD1d have not been identified, although NKT cells can recognize a synthetic glycolipid, alpha-GalCer. Here we show that after addition of a lipid extract from a tumor cell line, plate-bound mCD1d molecules stimulated an NKT cell hybridoma. This hybridoma also responded strongly to three purified phospholipids, but failed to recognize alpha-GalCer. Seven of sixteen other mCD1d restricted hybridomas also showed a response to certain purified phospholipids. These findings suggest NKT cells can recognize cellular antigens distinct from alpha-GalCer and identify phospholipids as potential self-antigens presented by mCD1d.

Cadherins are integral membrane proteins expressed in tissue-restricted patterns that mediate homophilic intercellular adhesion. During development, they orchestrate tissue morphogenesis and, in the adult, they determine tissue integrity and architecture. The synovial lining is a condensation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and macrophages one to three cells thick. These cells are embedded within the extracellular matrix, but the structure is neither an epithelium nor an endothelium. Previously, the basis for organization of the synovium into a tissue was unknown. Here, we cloned cadherin-11 from human rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-derived FLS. We developed L cell transfectants expressing cadherin-11, cadherin-11 fusion proteins, and anti–cadherin-11 mAb. Cadherin-11 was found to be expressed mainly in the synovial lining by immunohistologic staining of human synovium. FLS adhered to cadherin-11–Fc, and transfection of cadherin-11 conferred the formation of tissue-like sheets and lining-like structures upon fibroblasts in vitro. These findings support a key role for cadherin-11 in the specific adhesion of FLS and in synovial tissue organization and behavior in health and RA.

C4A gene deletion has a previously unrecognized powerful association with anti-Ro and anti-La autoantibodies. These results support the concept of divergent MHC gene associations with autoantibody expression and emphasize the influence of ethnicity on the immunogenetic study of SLE.

Human and murine T cells that specifically recognize CD1d and produce IL-4 and IFN-γ play a role in immunoregulation and tumor rejection. In the mouse, most CD1d1-reactive T cells described express an invariant Vα14-Jα281 TCR associated with TCR β-chains of limited diversity. Similarly, human CD1d-reactive T cells express a highly restricted TCR repertoire. Here we report the unexpected result that in mice immunized with CD1d1-bearing transfectant cells, a diverse repertoire of TCRs was expressed by CD1d1-reactive T cell clones isolated by limiting dilution without preselection for NK1 expression. Only 3 of 10 CD1d1-reactive T cell clones expressed the invariant Vα14-Jα281 TCRα rearrangement. T cells expressing Vα10, -11, -15, and -17, and having non-germline-encoded nucleotides resulting in diverse V-J junctions were identified. Like CD1d1-reactive T cells expressing the invariant Vα14-Jα281 TCR α-chain, CD1d1-reactive clones with diverse TCRs produced both Type 1 (IFN-γ) and Type 2 (IL-4, IL-10) cytokines. This establishes the existence of significant diversity in the TCRs directly reactive to the CD1d1 protein. Our findings reveal that CD1d interacts with a broad array of TCRs, suggesting substantial redundancy and flexibility of the immune system in providing T cells serving the role(s) mediated by CD1d reactivity.