Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are evolutionary conserved innate-like T cells able to recognise bacterial and fungal ligands derived from vitamin B biosynthesis. These cells are particularly present in liver and blood but also populate mucosal sites including skin, oral, intestinal, respiratory, and urogenital tracts that are in contact with the environment and microbiota of their host.
A recent study assessed for the first time T cell and MAIT cell phenotypes in patients with the inflammatory, potentially malignant disorder oral lichen planus (OLP), and correlated the findings with the presence of Candida and symptomatology. The University of Melbourne's researchers used multiple combinations of markers to simultaneously triple stain and identify MAIT cells using CD3, CD161, IL18R1 and TCRVα7.2+ phenotypes.
This study, which was supported by STEMM Research, is to date the first to characterise MAIT cell phenotypes in OLP using mIHC and shed light on the role of these cells in the pathophysiology of the disease.
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