PBS-57

PBS-57 is an analogue of a-galactosylceramide recently developed by Dr. Paul Savage and colleagues. Three independent laboratories have shown that PBS-57 activity is indistinguishable from a-galactosylceramide.  The NIH Tetramer Facility provides PBS-57 ligand complexed to CD1d monomers or tetramers.

Requests for PBS-57 ligand alone should be directed to Dr. Savage at Brigham Young University.

Staining with PBS-57-loaded CD1d tetramers.  A.  Human whole blood stained with PBS-57-loaded human CD1d tetramer is depicted.  Gated lymphocytes were analyzed either by plotting hCD1d versus CD3 or by overlaying hCD1d-positive cells onto a CD8 versus CD3 graph.  (The hCD1d subset is indicated in blue.)  B.  Mouse splenocytes stained with PBS-57-loaded mouse CD1d tetramer are shown.  Gated splenocytes were analyzed either by mCD1d versus CD3 or by overlaying mCD1d-positive cells onto a CD8 versus CD3 graph. (The mCD1d subset is indicated in blue.)  Unloaded tetramers did not stain cells. view larger image...

OCH

OCH, an a-galactosylceramide analogue with a truncated side chain, stimulates Th2-biased cytokine production in natural killer T cells.  This ligand has been shown to delay the onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in an animal model (Miyamoto et al., 2001). Through a collaboration with Dr. Paul Savage at Brigham Young University, the NIH Tetramer Facility is providing mouse and human CD1d monomers and tetramers loaded with OCH.

Purified OCH ligand may also be obtained for stimulation of NK T cells in vitro or for in vivo animal studies.  (The material may not be used in humans.)  OCH is dissolved in a Tween/sucrose/histidine buffer, sterile-filtered, placed in autoclaved vials, and lyophilized.  The resulting powder can be reconstituted in water at a final concentration of 0.2 mg/mL.

PBS-57-loaded and OCH-loaded mCD1d tetramers stain an equivalent population of cells in human blood.  The frequency and intensity of staining was similar with the two reagents. view larger image...

GSL-1

Recent studies have shown that glycolipids from the Sphingomonadaceae bacterial family are capable of stimulating natural killer T cells through presentation of the ligands on CD1d molecules (Kinjo et al., 2005 and Mattner et al., 2005) GSL-1 is structurally similar to PBS-57 and a-galactosylceramide.  Through a collaboration with Dr. Paul Savage at Brigham Young University, the NIH Tetramer Facility is providing purified GSL-1.

Purified GSL-1 ligand may also be obtained for stimulation of NK T cells in vitro or for in vivo animal studies.  (The material may not be used in humans.)  GSL-1 is dissolved in a Tween/sucrose/histidine buffer, sterile-filtered, placed in autoclaved vials, and lyophilized.  The resulting powder can be reconstituted in water at a final concentration of 0.2 mg/mL.

a-C-galactosylceramide

The a-C-galactosylceramide analogue of a-galactosylceramide is a potent stimulator of natural killer T cells and has been shown to protect animals against certain infections and cancers (Schmieg et al., 2003) Through a collaboration with Dr. Richard Franck at Hunter College of CUNY, the NIH Tetramer Facility is offering purified synthetic a-C-galactosylceramide for in vitro NK T cell activation.

We are not able to provide a-C-galactosylceramide-loaded CD1d tetramers due to the instability of the reagent.