Invariant NKT cell-based vaccine strategies

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012. All rights reserved. The success of vaccination strategies depends on the efficient generation of appropriate antigen-specific T-and B-cell responses. The unique position of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells at the interface of the innate and adaptive immune systems and their ability to direct the maturation of dendritic cells and B cells offers the possibility of harnessing them to "jump-start" the antigen-specific immune response to both microbial pathogen and tumor antigens. In this chapter, we explore the development of pharmacological agents that when used in vaccination strategies as adjuvants to antigenic proteins are able to activate iNKT cells which then augment antigen-specific T-and B-cell responses. In addition, we consider the future directions and challenges in translating these findings from experimental data obtained in mice to use in the clinic.