Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that is associated with a severe form of asthma, although the precise immunological basis for this disease is unclear. A new study in mice shows that natural killer T (NKT) cells are crucial for progression of A. fumigatus–induced asthma and also identifies a glycolipid antigen from this fungus that seems to drive this NKT cell–mediated inflammatory response (pages 1297–1304).
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Godfrey, D., Pellicci, D. & Rossjohn, J. NKT cells: the smoking gun in fungal-induced asthma?. Nat Med 19, 1210–1211 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3360
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3360
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