Event Abstract Back to Event A comparative analysis of mucosal associated invariant T cells and invariant natural killer T cells Zarina T. Zainudeen1, 2*, Aman S. Abdul Majid3 and Chris Willberg1, 4 1 University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, United Kingdom 2 Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, University of Science, Malaysia, Cluster of Regenerative Medicine, Malaysia 3 Quest International University Perak, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Malaysia 4 University of Oxford, Experimental Medicine Division, United Kingdom Background CD1d-restricted invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells and MR-1-restricted mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are two subsets of non-conventional T cells, with conserved T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, functions, homing and cytokine production. Both cell types show remarkable differences in their abundance in humans and mice; iNKT cells are found at a higher frequency in mice than human, whereas the opposite situation is true for MAIT cells. This suggests that the T cell subsets can potentially replace the other. Since MAIT cells dominate CD161++CD8+T cell population, the aim of this study is to compare the common phenotypes and roles between CD161++CD8+ T and iNKT cells. Methods CD161++CD8+ T and iNKT cells were characterised in terms of chemokine and cytokine receptor expression and functionality. This study compared peripheral blood iNKT cells and MAIT cells from healthy individuals. Since CD161 is widely expressed by lymphocytes, flow cytometry was employed to analyse the two study populations at the single cell level, and distinguish them from other CD161 expressing cells. Results Both cell types displayed preferential tissue-homing molecules, and different subsets of CD4/CD8 cell. Some of the Th17 characteristics were also found in iNKT cells, like IL23R and CCR6. In the present study, both the cells expressed granzyme A, K and perforin, with lower/undetectable expression of granzyme B. CD161++CD8+T cells were also observed to express higher levels of D prostanoid receptor (DP) 1 at the cell surface and at the mRNA level when compared to those seen in iNKT cells. Conclusions CD161++CD8+ T and iNKT cells are distinctive from conventional T cells. Both these cells are selectively recruited to the site of inflammation and exhibit antimicrobial activity. Although some overlapping functions were observed between these populations, differences were detected in the cytokine expressions and cytolytic granule contents. Acknowledgements We thank Prof Paul Klenerman and his research group for their guidance. Research is partly funded by Dr Chris Willberg's grant. Keywords: CD161++CD8+ T cells, iNKT cells, IL23R, CCR6, DP1 Conference: International Conference on Drug Discovery and Translational Medicine 2018 (ICDDTM '18) “Seizing Opportunities and Addressing Challenges of Precision Medicine”, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 3 Dec - 5 Feb, 2019. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Inflammatory diseases Citation: Zainudeen ZT, Abdul Majid AS and Willberg C (2019). A comparative analysis of mucosal associated invariant T cells and invariant natural killer T cells. Front. Pharmacol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Drug Discovery and Translational Medicine 2018 (ICDDTM '18) “Seizing Opportunities and Addressing Challenges of Precision Medicine”. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphar.2018.63.00019 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Nov 2018; Published Online: 17 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: PhD. Zarina T Zainudeen, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford, England, OX1 2JD, United Kingdom, zarinazainudeen@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Zarina T Zainudeen Aman S Abdul Majid Chris Willberg Google Zarina T Zainudeen Aman S Abdul Majid Chris Willberg Google Scholar Zarina T Zainudeen Aman S Abdul Majid Chris Willberg PubMed Zarina T Zainudeen Aman S Abdul Majid Chris Willberg Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.