Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells are potentially important regulators of anti-tumour immune responses. There is substantial circumstantial evidence that MAIT cells are able to affect anti-tumour immunity. However the nature of these effects is not well understood - especially in humans. It is thought that MAIT cells mediate their effects through other effector cells such as natural killer (NK) and conventional T cells, primarily through their potent cytokine production.

We aim to characterise the potential for MAIT cells to regulate the functions of effector immune cells in humans that impact on anti-tumour immune responses. The characterization is being measured in several ways including assaying of activation markers, cytokine production and profile, proliferative ability and cytotoxic potential. In addition, we seek to determine how they interact with other immune cells in the context of cancer.

Current preliminary data (unpublished) indicates that MAIT cells can influence the ability of both NK cells and cytotoxic T cells to activate and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines (namely IFNγ and TNFα), while their ability to proliferate and to produce granzyme-B and perforin appears to be unaffected. This is the first step in establishing how MAIT cells can influence overall immune responses - and ones that are particularly important within the context of cancer.