tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Viruses
. 2021 Feb 3;13(2):241.
doi: 10.3390/v13020241.
Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells Are Highly Activated and Functionally Impaired in COVID-19 Patients
Sebastian Deschler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Juliane Kager[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Johanna Erber[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lisa Fricke[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Plamena Koyumdzhieva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexandra Georgieva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tobias Lahmer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Johannes R Wiessner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Florian Voit[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jochen Schneider[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Julia Horstmann[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roman Iakoubov[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matthias Treiber[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Christof Winter[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], J?rgen Ruland[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Dirk H Busch[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Percy A Knolle[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Ulrike Protzer[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Christoph D Spinner[SUP] 1 7 [/SUP], Roland M Schmid[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Quante[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP], Katrin B?ttcher[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
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.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells.
. 2021 Feb 3;13(2):241.
doi: 10.3390/v13020241.
Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells Are Highly Activated and Functionally Impaired in COVID-19 Patients
Sebastian Deschler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Juliane Kager[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Johanna Erber[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lisa Fricke[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Plamena Koyumdzhieva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexandra Georgieva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tobias Lahmer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Johannes R Wiessner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Florian Voit[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jochen Schneider[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Julia Horstmann[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roman Iakoubov[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matthias Treiber[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Christof Winter[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], J?rgen Ruland[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Dirk H Busch[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Percy A Knolle[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Ulrike Protzer[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Christoph D Spinner[SUP] 1 7 [/SUP], Roland M Schmid[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Quante[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP], Katrin B?ttcher[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33546489
- DOI: 10.3390/v13020241
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.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells.