Fig. 1.

Human bile contains natural killer T (NKT) cell‐activating antigens. Bile samples from 10 patients with liver disease (A1–A10) were screened for NKT cell‐activating antigens in a CD1d‐coated plate assay with three invariant (DN32.D3, 24.8 and 24.7) and three non‐invariant (14S.7, 14S.10 and 14S.6) murine NKT cell hybridomas. All invariant (a) and non‐invariant (b) NKT hybridomas were activated by bile antigens and eight of 10 bile samples activated at least one of the hybridomas as indicated by an increased interleukin (IL)‐2‐production, with alpha‐galactosylceramide (αGC) as a positive control for the invariant NKT hybridomas. Representative results from two independent experiments are shown, presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (s.e.m.).