Decrease of peripheral blood mucosal-associated invariant T cells and impaired serum Granzyme-B production in patients with gastric cancer

• Published in: Cell & bioscience Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 12
• Main Authors: Shao, Chunyan, Zhu, Chenwen, Zhu, Yun, Hao, Jiqing, Li, Yongxiang, Hu, Huaqing, Si, Li, Zhong, Fei, Wang, Xuefu, Wang, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 09-01-2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Age; Antigen (tumor-associated); Broadway theater; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; CD4 antigen; CD8 antigen; Chemotherapy; Flow cytometry; Gastric cancer; Gender; IFN-γ; Immune surveillance; Immunotherapy; Infectious diseases; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; MAIT cells; Mortality; Mucosa; Peripheral blood; Phenotypes; Serum levels; Stomach cancer; T cell receptors; T cells; TNF-α; Trends; Tumor antigens; Tumors; China; IFN-γ; Immune surveillance; TNF-α; Gastric cancer; Immunotherapy; MAIT cells
• ISSN: 2045-3701; 2045-3701
• DOI: 10.1186/s13578-020-00518-9

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are an invariant T cell subset, which have been reported to play an antimicrobial role in infectious diseases. However, little is known about it in malignant diseases and tumors, especially in gastric cancer (GC). So in this study, we aim to examine the frequency, phenotype, partial functional capacity and clinical relevance of this cells from GC patients' peripheral blood by flow cytometry. It was shown that the frequency of peripheral blood MAIT cells was negatively correlated with their increasing age in healthy adults. Importantly, comparing to the healthy controls (HC), the frequency and the absolute number of MAIT cells from GC patients' peripheral blood with or without chemotherapy were both significantly lower than those. For the phenotype, the proportion of CD4
MAIT cell subset in GC patients without chemotherapy was lower than in HC, but higher than in GC patients with chemotherapy. Whereas, the proportion of CD4
CD8
MAIT cell subset in GC patients without chemotherapy was significantly lower than that in HC. Finally, the level of Granzyme-B (GrB), a molecule associated with MAIT cells was markedly lower in GC patients. But the correlation between the serum levels of GC-associated tumor antigens and the percentages of MAIT cells in GC patients was not observed. In conclusion, our study shows the decreased frequency, changed phenotypes and partial potentially impaired function of MAIT cells in GC patients, suggesting a possible MAIT cell-based immunological surveillance of GC.