| Literature DB >> 35028137 |
Victoria M Vorwald1, Dana M Davis1, Robert J Van Gulick2, Robert J Torphy1, Jessica Sw Borgers1,3, Jared Klarquist4, Kasey L Couts2, Carol M Amato2, Dasha T Cogswell1, Mayumi Fujita4,5, Moriah J Castleman4, Timothy Davis6, Catherine Lozupone7, Theresa M Medina2, William A Robinson2, Laurent Gapin4, Martin D McCarter1, Richard P Tobin1.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: While much of the research concerning factors associated with responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has focussed on the contributions of conventional peptide-specific T cells, the role of unconventional T cells, such as mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, in human melanoma remains largely unknown. MAIT cells are an abundant population of innate-like T cells expressing a semi-invariant T-cell receptor restricted to the MHC class I-like molecule, MR1, presenting vitamin B metabolites derived from bacteria. We sought to characterise MAIT cells in melanoma patients and determined their association with treatment responses and clinical outcomes.Entities:
Keywords: MAIT cells; immunotherapy; melanoma; overall survival
Year: 2022 PMID: 35028137 PMCID: PMC8743567 DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1367
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Clin Transl Immunology ISSN: 2050-0068
Figure 1Mucosal‐associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are decreased in the circulation of melanoma patients. (a) Example flow cytometric gating strategy to identify MAIT cell subsets in peripheral blood. Comparisons of MAIT cell subsets as a fraction of CD45+ cells (b), total T cells (c), parent T‐cell population (d) and of MAIT (e) in healthy donors (HD, n = 11) and treatment naïve (TN, n = 33) melanoma patients. (f) Comparisons of the frequency of PMA/ionomycin‐stimulated polyfunctional (TNFα+IFNγ+) cells as a percentage of the described population [(HD: n = 11), (TN: n = 15)]. Double negative (DN), *P < 0.05.
Figure 2Activated mucosal‐associated invariant T (MAIT) cells infiltrate human melanoma tumors. (a) The frequency of MAIT cell subsets and their non‐MAIT (NM) counterparts as a percentage of the total CD45+ cells in the blood and infiltrating the tumors. (a) Example staining of MAIT cells comparing blood vs. tumor. (c) The ratio of each MAIT cell subset as a percentage of MAIT cells comparing blood vs. tumor. (d) Example staining of MAIT cells comparing blood vs. tumor. Comparisons of the geometric mean fluorescence intensity (gMFI) (e) of PD‐1 or (f) percentage of positive staining cells on MAIT cell subsets in the blood vs. tumor. (g) The gMFI of CD25 on MAIT cell subsets in the blood vs. tumor. (h) Example staining of CD39+PD‐1+ cells in different metastatic sites gated on CD4+ or CD8+ MAIT cells. Blood samples were collected from 24 patients at the time of surgery. Double negative (DN), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.
Figure 3Mucosal‐associated invariant T (MAIT) cells increase in frequency in the circulation of melanoma patients during anti‐PD‐1 therapy. (a) Example flow cytometric data characterising the frequency of circulating MAIT cell subsets prior to treatment (Pre‐TX) and after the third anti‐PD‐1 treatment (On‐TX) in stage IV melanoma patients. (b) Comparisons of the labelled circulating MAIT cell subsets comparing Pre‐TX and On‐TX samples between responding (R, n = 14) and non‐responding (NR, n = 7) patients. Response to anti‐PD‐1 was characterised using RECIST1.1 criteria with responders identified as complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), while non‐responders were identified as stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD). Double negative (DN), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.
Figure 4The frequency of total and CD8+ MAIT cells is positively associated with improved clinical responses and overall survival in melanoma patients. (a) Example staining of circulating MAIT cell subsets in responding vs. non‐responding melanoma patients. (b) Comparisons of the absolute number of total, CD4+, CD8+ and double‐negative (DN) MAIT cell populations in early stage (I/II, n = 16), stage III (n = 25) [treatment naïve (TN), progressed on treatment (P), did not progress on therapy (NP), immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)] or stage IV (n = 37) [treatment naïve (TN), non‐responding (NR), responding (R), immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)]. (c) Comparisons of the frequency of proliferating cells (Ki‐67+) in anti‐PD‐1 non‐responders (NR, n = 10) compared to responders (R, n = 10). (d) Kaplan–Meier curves comparing the survival of stage IV melanoma patients who received at least three doses of anti‐PD‐1 therapy (n = 27) based on the median frequency of the listed MAIT cell population. The median for each cellular population is indicated on each graph. Clinical characteristics for all patients in this analysis can be found in Supplementary tables 2–5. All treated patients received at least three doses of ICI prior to sample collection. Survival was calculated from the time of the blood draw and all blood draws occurred, while the patients were still receiving therapy. Response to ICIs was characterised using RECIST1.1 criteria with responders identified as complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), while non‐responders were identified as stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD).