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Here we show that the ability of T cells to transport kynurenine is restricted to cells activated by the T-cell antigen receptor or proinflammatory cytokines. Kynurenine is transported across the T-cell membrane by the System L transporter SLC7A5. Accordingly, the ability of kynurenine to activate the\u00a0AHR is restricted to T cells that express SLC7A5. We use the fluorescence spectral properties of kynurenine to develop a flow cytometry-based assay for rapid, sensitive and quantitative measurement of the kynurenine transport capacity in a single cell. Our findings provide a method to assess the susceptibility of T cells to kynurenine, and a sensitive single cell assay to monitor System L amino acid transport.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-04366-7","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,11]],"date-time":"2018-05-11T15:04:20Z","timestamp":1526051060000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":203,"title":["Single cell analysis of kynurenine and System L amino acid transport in T cells"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1248-7189","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linda V.","family":"Sinclair","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Damien","family":"Neyens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9862-2323","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"George","family":"Ramsay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0572-4502","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter M.","family":"Taylor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7525-3350","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Doreen A.","family":"Cantrell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"4366_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1084\/jem.20020121","volume":"196","author":"G Frumento","year":"2002","unstructured":"Frumento, G. et al. 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