MAIT Cells: Partners or Enemies in Cancer Immunotherapy?
Dasha T CogswellLaurent GapinHeather M TobinMartin D McCarterRichard P TobinPublished in: Cancers (2021)
A recent boom in mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cell research has identified relationships between MAIT cell abundance, function, and clinical outcomes in various malignancies. As they express a variety of immune checkpoint receptors and ligands, and possess strong cytotoxic functions, MAIT cells are an attractive new subject in the field of tumor immunology. MAIT cells are a class of innate-like T cells that express a semi-invariant T cell antigen receptor (TCR) that recognizes microbially derived non-peptide antigens presented by the non-polymorphic MHC class-1 like molecule, MR1. In this review, we outline the current (and often contradictory) evidence exploring MAIT cell biology and how MAIT cells impact clinical outcomes in different human cancers, as well as what role they may have in cancer immunotherapy.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- single cell
- cell therapy
- stem cells
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- endothelial cells
- signaling pathway
- magnetic resonance
- computed tomography
- mesenchymal stem cells
- microbial community
- regulatory t cells
- antiretroviral therapy
- men who have sex with men
- hiv infected
- hiv testing
- childhood cancer