Tissue-infiltrating mucosal-associated invariant T cells play an important role against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in tuberculosis pleurisy.

Abstract

Control of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) requires effective antigen-specific immune response, including CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses; however, the local immune response of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells at the site of infection is unclear. MAIT cells are a prevalent and unique, innate T-cell population that expresses the semi-invariant T-cell receptor TCRVα7.2. Our direct ex vivo analysis demonstrates that the frequency of MAIT cells in pleural fluid was much higher than that in peripheral blood from healthy donors, but much lower than that in peripheral blood from patients with tuberculosis. M.tb-reactive MAIT cells highly expressed tissue-specific chemokine receptors (CXCR3hiCXCR4hiCCR5hiCXCR6hi) and displayed an effector memory T-cell phenotype (CD45RO+CCR7-CD62L-), which indicates preferential homing to mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues. Furthermore, the majority of MAIT cells in pleurisy fluid express tissue-resident makers (CD69+) that were only marginally present on MAIT cells from normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In addition, MAIT cells produce cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α and exhibit cytotoxic activity molecules, CD107a/b and granzyme B, in response to tuberculosis-specific antigens, which suggests that MAIT cells played a significant role in immune response to M.tb in local lesions. Here, we address the potential roles for M.tb-reactive MAIT cells at the site of tuberculosis infection.-Li, J., Yu, S., Zhang, Y., Shen, J., Lao, S., Li, B., Yang, B., Wu, C. Tissue-infiltrating mucosal-associated invariant T cells play an important role against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in tuberculosis pleurisy.