The immunobiology of mucosal-associated invariant T cell (MAIT) function in primary biliary cholangitis: Regulation by cholic acid-induced Interleukin-7.

The immunobiology of mucosal-associated invariant T cell (MAIT) function in primary biliary cholangitis: Regulation by cholic acid-induced Interleukin-7. J Autoimmun. 2018 Feb 08;: Authors: Jiang X, Lian M, Li Y, Zhang W, Wang Q, Wei Y, Zhang J, Chen W, Xiao X, Miao Q, Bian Z, Qiu D, Fang J, Ansari AA, Leung PSC, Coppel RL, Tang R, Gershwin ME, Ma X Abstract Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are novel innate-like T cells constituting a significant proportion of circulating and hepatic T cells. Herein, we extensively examine the phenotypical and functional alterations of MAIT cells and their regulation in a cohort of 56 patients with Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) and 53 healthy controls (HC). Additionally alterations of MAIT cells were assessed before and after UDCA treatment. Finally the localization of MAIT cell in liver was examined using specific tetramer staining and the underlying mechanisms of these alterations in PBC were explored. Our data demonstrated that the frequency and number of circulating MAIT cells were decreased, whereas hepatic MAIT cells were increased in PBC compared to HC. Moreover, circulating MAIT cells were more activated in PBC than HC, reflected by elevated expression levels of granzyme B. Six months of UDCA treatment significantly attenuated the circulating MAIT cells differences in PBC. Of note, the expression levels of IL-7 were significantly increased in both plasma and liver from PBC as c...
Source: Journal of Autoimmunity - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: J Autoimmun Source Type: research