Functions of mucosal associated invariant T cells in eye diseases

Chihiro Fukui; Satoshi Yamana; Yanqi Xue; Mariko Shirane; Hiroki Tsutsui; Kenichiro Asahara; Keiko Yoshitomi; Takako Ito; Tantri Lestari; Eiichi Hasegawa; Nobuyo Yawata; Atsunobu Takeda; Koh-Hei Sonoda; Kensuke Shibata

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1341180

Functions of mucosal associated invariant T cells in eye diseases

Front Immunol. 2024 Feb 19:15:1341180. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1341180. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
² Department of Ocular Pathology and Imaging Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Japan.
⁴ Department of Molecular Immunology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.

Abstract

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a unique subset of T cells that recognizes metabolites derived from the vitamin B2 biosynthetic pathway. Since the identification of cognate antigens for MAIT cells, knowledge of the functions of MAIT cells in cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases has been rapidly expanding. Recently, MAIT cells have been found to contribute to visual protection against autoimmunity in the eye. The protective functions of MAIT cells are induced by T-cell receptor (TCR)-mediated activation. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, this mini-review aims to discuss our findings and the complexity of MAIT cell-mediated immune regulation in the eye.

Keywords: T cells; autoimmune disease; eye; immunotherapy; metabolite.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Autoimmunity
Eye Diseases*
Humans
Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cells*
Riboflavin

Substances

Riboflavin

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (JP23H04784, JP23K18330 to KS).