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Review
Nature Reviews Immunology 5, 31–42 (1 January 2005) | doi:10.1038/nri1531
|[alpha]|-Galactosylceramide therapy for autoimmune diseases: prospects and obstacles
Abstract
Autoimmune responses are normally kept in check by immune-tolerance mechanisms, which include regulatory T cells. In recent years, research has focused on the role of a subset of natural killer T (NKT) cells — invariant NKT (iNKT) cells, which are a population of glycolipid-reactive regulatory T cells — in controlling autoimmune responses. Because iNKT cells strongly react with a marine-sponge-derived glycolipid, α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), it has been possible to specifically target and track these cells. As I discuss here, although preclinical studies have shown considerable promise for the development of treatment with α-GalCer as a therapeutic modality for autoimmune diseases, several obstacles need to be overcome before moving α-GalCer therapy from the bench to the bedside.
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