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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Mar 20.
Published in final edited form as: Semin Immunol. 2009 Dec 4;22(2):87–96. doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2009.11.001

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Role of NKT cells in adaptive immunity against malaria and HIV. In the context of CD1d molecules, α-galactosyl ceramide (α-GalCer) stimulates NKT cells through their invariant T cell receptor (invTCR). Upon activation, NKT cells rapidly secrete cytokines such as IFN-γ, and together with CD40-CD40L interaction, induce activation and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). Thus, co-administration of α-GalCer with vaccines expressing malaria or HIV antigens are able to enhance the efficacy of the vaccines by augmenting the levels of antigen-specific T cell and humoral responses.