MAITs, MR1 and vitamin B metabolites
RW Birkinshaw, L Kjer-Nielsen, SBG Eckle… - Current opinion in …, 2014 - Elsevier
Current opinion in immunology, 2014•Elsevier
Highlights•Identification of the MAIT cell activating ligand.•Development of MR1
tetramers.•Structural basis of vitamin B metabolite recognition.αβT-cell mediated immunity is
traditionally characterised by recognition of peptides or lipids presented by the major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) or the CD1 family respectively. Recently the antigenic
repertoire of αβT-cells has been expanded with the observation that mucosal-associated
invariant T-cells (MAIT cells), an abundant population of innate-like T-cells, can recognise …
tetramers.•Structural basis of vitamin B metabolite recognition.αβT-cell mediated immunity is
traditionally characterised by recognition of peptides or lipids presented by the major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) or the CD1 family respectively. Recently the antigenic
repertoire of αβT-cells has been expanded with the observation that mucosal-associated
invariant T-cells (MAIT cells), an abundant population of innate-like T-cells, can recognise …
Highlights
- Identification of the MAIT cell activating ligand.
- Development of MR1 tetramers.
- Structural basis of vitamin B metabolite recognition.
αβT-cell mediated immunity is traditionally characterised by recognition of peptides or lipids presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or the CD1 family respectively. Recently the antigenic repertoire of αβT-cells has been expanded with the observation that mucosal-associated invariant T-cells (MAIT cells), an abundant population of innate-like T-cells, can recognise metabolites of vitamin B, when presented by the MHC-related protein, MR1. The semi-invariant MAIT T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognises riboflavin and folic acid metabolites bound by MR1 in a conserved docking mode, and thus acts like a pattern recognition receptor. Here we review and discuss the recent observations concerning antigen presentation by MR1, the advent of MR1-Ag tetramers that specifically stain MAIT cells, recognition by the MAIT TCR, and our emerging understanding of MAIT cells in disease.
Elsevier