Project description:Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate sensors of viruses, which can augment early immune responses and contribute to protection from lethal infection. Thus, we reasoned MAIT cells may have an adjuvating role in the immunogenicity of replication-incompetent adenovirus vectors, which are novel vaccine platforms for pandemic pathogens such as Ebola virus and SARS-CoV-2. In both mice and human volunteers, immunization with ChAdOx1 (Chimpanzee Adenovirus Ox1) robustly activated MAIT cells. Activation required transduction of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and monocytes to produce IFN- and IL-18, respectively. IFN--induced monocyte-derived TNF was identified as a novel intermediate in this activation pathway, and activation required combinatorial signaling of all three cytokines both in vitro and in vivo. Strikingly, vaccine-induced activation of MAIT cells positively correlated with vaccine-induced T cell responses in human volunteers. Supporting a causal relationship, MAIT cell-deficient mice displayed impaired CD8+ T cell responses to multiple vaccine-encoded antigens. These findings define a novel role for MAIT cells in the immunogenicity of adenovirus vector vaccines, with potential implications for vaccine design.
Project description:To show the similarity among MAIT-iPSCs, hiPSCs and hESCs and the gradual change of global gene expression of reMAIT cells along with differentiation, this experiment was designed. MAIT cells, MAIT-iPSCs, hiPSCs, hESCs, MAIT cells, and reMAIT cells at the several differerent stages of differentiation were collected. Then, they were applied in this experiment.
Project description:MAIT cells (MAITs) represent an abundant T lymphocyte subset with unique specificity for microbial metabolites presented by the MHC-1b molecule, MR1. MAIT conservation along evolution indicates important, non-redundant functions, but their low frequency in mice has hampered their detailed characterization. Here, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of murine MAITs in comparison with NKT subsets and with mainstream T cells in spleen and peripheral organs of B6-MAIT/CAST mice expressing a Rorc-GFP transgene. MAIT and NKT cells have been FACS-sorted after tetramer staining (MR1:5-OP-RU Tet+ for MAIT, CD1d:PBS57Tet+ for NKT), and 1/17 subsetting based on the expression of Rorc.
Project description:Metabolic alteration influences cancer immunity. However, the role and mechanism of metabolic adaption on immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) responses remains ill-defined. Here, metabolomic profiling in mouse tumor models and cancer patients treated with ICB was performed. We found that metabolite inosine was associated with ICB sensitivity in mice and humans, and overcame ICB resistance in several mouse tumor models. Notably, inosine sensitized tumor cells to T cell-mediated cytotoxicity by amplifying tumor-intrinsic immunogenicity. Chemical proteomics further identified that inosine directly bound and inhibited ubiquitin-activating enzyme UBA6. Tumor intrinsic UBA6 loss augmented tumor immunogenicity and substituted the synergistic effect of inosine in combination with ICB. Clinically, tumor UBA6 expression negatively correlated with ICB response in cancer patients. Thus, we reveal an unappreciated function of inosine on tumor-intrinsic immunogenicity and UBA6 as a candidate target for immunotherapy.
Project description:Obesity underpins the development of numerous chronic diseases such as type II diabetes mellitus. It is well established that obesity negatively alters immune cell frequencies and functions. Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are a population of innate T cells, which we have previously reported are dysregulated in obesity, with altered circulating and adipose tissue frequencies and a reduction in their IFN-gamma production, which is a critical effector function of MAIT cells in host defence. Hence there is increased urgency to characterise the key molecular mechanisms that drive MAIT cell effector functions, and to identify those which are impaired in the obesity setting. In this study, we found that MAIT cells significantly upregulate their rates of glycolysis upon activation in an mTORC1 dependent manner and this is essential for MAIT cell IFN-g production. Furthermore, we show that mTORC1 activation is dependent on amino acid transport via SLC7A5. In obese patients, using RNA sequencing, Seahorse analysis and a series of in vitro experiments, we demonstrate that MAIT cells isolated from obese adults display defective glycolytic metabolism, mTORC1 signalling and SLC7A5 amino acid transport. Collectively our data details the intrinsic metabolic pathways controlling MAIT cell cytokine production and highlights mTORC1 as an important metabolic regulator that is impaired in obesity, leading to altered MAIT cell responses. We report on MAIT cells isolated from lean and obese adults
Project description:In mice, contrary to conventional T cells, MAIT cells acquire a memory phenotype in the thymus in relation with Zbtb16 expression (Savage et al., 2008 ; Koay et al., 2016). To define phenotypic transcriptional signatures of MAIT subsets in the thymus, we analyzed by microarray the transcriptome of MAIT1 (MR1tet+RORgt+) and MAIT17 (MR1tet+RORgt+) as compared to conventional mature (TCRb+CD24lo) CD4+ and CD8+ single positive cells.
Project description:Mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, already differentiated and located at mucosal sites, are critical in the body’s first wave of defenses against invading pathogens. Bcl11b KO MAIT cells fail to be maintained both in the thymus and peripheral organs. Furthermore, MAIT cells fail to fully develop in the thymus without Bcl11b, failing to upregulate RORγt, and that phenotype remains in the lungs and livers of these mice. Bcl11b deletion in MAIT cells causes dramatic shifts in the activation and TH17 programs, due to the binding of Bcl11b in many of those genes, which we have seen in the human MAIT cells. MAIT cells rely on PLZF and RORγt for their development and function, while also heavily relying on Bcl11b. These data show the key interplay of Bcl11b with PLZF and RORγt in a T cell leading to its development and necessary function to protect the body against diseases.