Induction of immune tolerance: a role for Natural killer T lymphocytes?

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Abstract
The ability of the immune system to distinguish between harmful and harmless antigens is essential for mounting protective immune responses and preventing the induction of pathology. Tolerance is a mechanism that prevents or suppresses potentially injurious immune responses. Natural killer T (NKT) lymphocytes, a subset of regulatory T lymphocytes, can induce pro‐inflammatory or anti‐inflammatory immune responses. This subset of cells appears to be crucial for induction of tolerance by several immune‐modulatory interventions; these include immune manipulations in the setting of transplantation, induction of tolerance by introduction of antigen into immune‐privileged sites, and oral administration of disease‐associated‐antigen. The ability to predict whether tolerance or immunity will be generated in a given situation is essential for development of NKT lymphocyte‐based immune‐modulatory treatments. The role of NKT lymphocytes in these settings, and the requirements for development of tolerance, rather than immunity, are discussed.