Natural killer T-cell populations in C57BL/6 and NK1.1 congenic BALB.NK mice-a novel thymic subset defined in BALB.NK mice.
Natural killer (NK) T lymphocytes are a subpopulation of T lymphocytes regarded as early regulators of immune responses. The majority of NKT cells are restricted by the CD1d molecule. NKT cells have mostly been studied in one single mouse strain, C57BL/6 (B6), because of the absence of NK1.1 in other common mouse strains, and the lack of other reliable surface markers for CD1d-restricted cells. To