Overall, our work strongly suggests JNK2 is a negative regulator of CD1d-mediated Ag presentation and contributes to IL-12-induced iNKT cell activation and loss during viral infections.
A role for CD1d-restricted NKT cells in the control of virus infections has been delineated from clinical observations, mouse models and viral evasion mechanisms targeting CD1d.
KSHV modulation of CD1d expression represents a strategy for viral evasion of innate host immune responses and implicates CD1d-restricted T cells as regulators of this viral infection.
Here, we show that nonclassical NKT cells that are CD1d restricted but nonreactive to alpha-GalCer are activated in response to hepatocytes expressing hepatitis B viral antigens in a transgenic mouse model of acute hepatitis B virus infection.