Teleost T and NK cell immunity

The main function of the immune system is to maintain the organism's homeostasis when invaded by foreign material or organisms. Prior to successful elimination of the invader it is crucial to distinguish self from non-self. Most pathogens and altered cells can be recognized by immune cells through expressed pathogen- or danger-associated molecular patterns (PAMPS or DAMPS, respectively), through non-self (e.g. allogenic or xenogenic cells) or missing major histocompatibility (MHC) class I molecules (some virus-infected target cells), and by presenting foreign non-self peptides of intracellular (through MHC class I-e.g. virus-infected target cells) or extracellular (through MHC class II-e.g. from bacteria) origin. In order to eliminate invaders directly or by destroying their ability to replicate (e.g. virus-infected cells) specialized immune cells of the innate and adaptive responses appeared during evolution. The first line of defence is represented by the evolutionarily ancient macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. These innate mechanisms are well developed in bony fish. Two types of NK cell homologues have been described in fish: non-specific cytotoxic cells and NK-like cells. Adaptive cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) requires key molecules expressed on cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and target cells. CTLs kill host cells harbouring intracellular pathogens by binding of their T cell receptor (TCR) and its co-receptor CD8 to a complex of MHC class I and bound peptide on the infected host cell. Alternatively, extracellular antigens are taken up by professional antigen presenting cells such as macrophages, dendritic cells and B cells to process those antigens and present the resulting peptides in association with MHC class II to CD4+ T helper cells. During recent years, genes encoding MHC class I and II, TCR and its co-receptors CD8 and CD4 have been cloned in several fish species and antibodies have been developed to study protein expression in morphological and functional contexts. Functional assays for innate and adaptive lymphocyte responses have been developed in only a few fish species. This review summarizes and discusses recent results and developments in the field of T and NK cell responses with focus on economically important and experimental model fish species in the context of vaccination.