Manuscript Detail

Title: Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells Are Highly Activated and Functionally Impaired in COVID-19 Patients
Authors: Deschler, Sebastian et al
Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), comprises mild courses of disease as well as progression to severe disease, characterised by lung and other organ failure. The immune system is considered to play a crucial role for the pathogenesis of COVID-19, although especially the contribution of innate-like T cells remains poorly understood. Here, we analysed the phenotype and function of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, innate-like T cells with potent antimicrobial effector function, in patients with mild and severe COVID-19 by multicolour flow cytometry. Our data indicate that MAIT cells are highly activated in patients with COVID-19, irrespective of the course of disease, and express high levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-17A and TNFα ex vivo. Of note, expression of the activation marker HLA-DR positively correlated with SAPS II score, a measure of disease severity. Upon MAIT cell-specific in vitro stimulation, MAIT cells however failed to upregulate expression of the cytokines IL-17A and TNFα, as well as cytolytic proteins, that is, granzyme B and perforin. Thus, our data point towards an altered cytokine expression profile alongside an impaired antibacterial and antiviral function of MAIT cells in COVID-19 and thereby contribute to the understanding of COVID-19 immunopathogenesis.
Journal: Viruses
Curator: Jane Wang
Reviewer: Aris Floratos
Author-provided data: ?

paper: Deschler, S., Kager, J., Erber, J., Fricke, L., Koyumdzhieva, P., Georgieva, A., Lahmer, T., Wiessner, J. R., Voit, F., Schneider, J., Horstmann, J., Iakoubov, R., Treiber, M., Winter, C., Ruland, J., Busch, D. H., Knolle, P. A., Protzer, U., Spinner, C. D., Schmid, R. M., Quante, M. and Böttcher, K. (2021). Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells Are Highly Activated and Functionally Impaired in COVID-19 Patients. Viruses https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020241
contributor: Katrin Böttcher
contributor_organization: Technical University of Munich
contributor_email: katrin.boettcher@mri.tum.de

 

    • description: Alterations in immune cell populations in patients with mild and severe COVID-19 in comparison to healthy controls
    • exact_source: Figure 1 and 2
    • tissue: PBMC
    • immune_exposure: COVID-19 infection
    • cohort: adults
    • comparison: severe and mild infection vs. healthy controls
    • repository_id:
    • platform:
    • response_components:
    • response_behavior: up and down
        • description: expression of activation markers and cytokines by MAIT cell ex vivo
        • exact_source: Figure 3, Supplemental Figure 3
        • tissue: PBMC
        • immune_exposure: COVID-19 infection
        • cohort: adults
        • comparison: severe and mild infection vs. healthy controls, acute infection vs. convalescence
        • repository_id:
        • platform:
        • response_components:
        • response_behavior: up
            • description: cytokine expression of MAIT cells in COVID-19 patients following stimulation
            • exact_source: Figure 4, Supplemental Figure 4
            • tissue: PBMC
            • immune_exposure: COVID-19 infection
            • cohort: adults
            • comparison: severe and mild infection vs. healthy controls, acute infection vs. convalescence
            • repository_id:
            • platform:
            • response_components:
            • response_behavior: down