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JOYCE S, Van Kaer L. Invariant natural killer T cells trigger adaptive lymphocytes to churn up bile. Cell Host & Microbe. 3(3). 275-277.
Abstract
How innate immune response causes autoimmunity has remained an enigma. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Mattner et al. demonstrate that invariant natural killer T cells activated by the mucosal commensal Novosphingobium aromaticivorans precipitate chronic T cell-mediated autoimmunity against small bile ducts that mirrors human primary biliary cirrhosis. These findings provide a mechanistic understanding of the role of innate immunity toward a microbe in the development of autoimmunity.