Whereas the acquired T cell-mediated protection against intracellular pathogens such as
Leishmania major has been well studied in the past, the cells and mechanisms involved in
their innate control are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of natural killer
T (NKT) cells in a high dose L. major mouse infection model. In vitro, L. major only weakly
stimulated NKT cells and antagonized their response to the prototypic NKT cell ligand α-
galactosylceramide, indicating that L. major partially escapes the activation of NKT cells …