Finding could lead to developing novel therapeutics for inflammatory bowel diseases
CU Anschutz researchers uncovered a link between a type of mucosal immune cell and gut inflammation, finding that the cells exacerbate inflammation and lead to chronic disease in certain conditions.
A new study yielded the potentially harmful effects of mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAIT) on the intestinal barrier - the first such study to make this connection. By genetically disrupting MAIT cells, researchers were able to halt ulcerative colitis in a strain of mice that are known for spontaneously developing chronic inflammation in the colon.
"We'd like to move forward to understand the molecular mechanism in the MAIT cells that is contributing to this," said Liyen Loh, PhD, the study's lead author and assistant research professor of immunology and microbiology at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine (SOM).
Researchers plan to involve human participants in future studies with the goal of developing novel therapeutics for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease and colitis.
Unlike other T cells, which recognize foreign-invader antigens in patient-specific fashion, MAIT cells recognize antigens in an identical manner across the population, said Laurent Gapin, PhD, professor of immunology and the study's lead author.
"That gives us an opportunity to come up with potential treatments that are going to be universal," he said. "There is a huge appeal not only in the IBD field but in autoimmunity and the cancer field as well to target the roles MAIT cells are potentially playing."
Several departments and divisions in the SOM, as well as collaborators in France, contributed to the study.
Loh and Gapin explain their research findings in the following interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
