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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2003 May 29;358(1433):875–877. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1267

Generation of CD1 tetramers as a tool to monitor glycolipid-specific T cells.

Stephan D Gadola 1, Anastasios Karadimitris 1, Nathan R Zaccai 1, Mariolina Salio 1, Nicolas Dulphy 1, Dawn Shepherd 1, E Yvonne Jones 1, Vincenzo Cerundolo 1
PMCID: PMC1693178  PMID: 12803920

Abstract

CD1 molecules are beta(2)m-associated HLA class-I-like glycoproteins which have the unique ability to present glycolipid and phospholipid antigens to specific T lymphocytes. To study the biology of CD1 and its role in human disease we developed novel techniques for generation of recombinant CD1/lipid complexes by in vitro refolding. Fluorescent tetrameric complexes made from soluble recombinant CD1d/alpha-galactosylceramide complexes allowed highly sensitive and specific ex vivo and in vitro detection and functional characterization of novel human T-lymphocyte populations. Furthermore, protein crystals were obtained from soluble recombinant CD1b/beta(2)m-proteins loaded either with phosphatidylinositol or ganglioside GM2, which led to the first atomic structure determination of a CD1/lipid complex. The analysis of these crystal structures clarified how CD1b molecules can bind lipid ligands of different size, and revealed a broader spectrum of potential CD1b ligands than previously predicted.

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Selected References

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