Description:

Title: " MAIT Cells are Imprinted by the Microbiota in Early Life and Promote Tissue Repair"

Speaker:

Michael Constantinides, PhD

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH)

Bethesda, Maryland

Host: Chyung-Ru Wang, PhD

Topic:

How early-life colonization and subsequent exposure to the microbiota affect long-term tissue immunity remains poorly understood. We recently determined that the development of mucosal- associated invariant T (MAIT) cells depends on early-life exposure to microbes that synthesize riboflavin. MAIT cells subsequently develop into a dominant population of IL-17A-producing lymphocytes within the skin, capable of responding to skin commensals in an IL-1, IL-18, and antigen-dependent manner. Furthermore, local activation of cutaneous MAIT cells promotes wound healing, establishing these innate-like lymphocytes as a key population that mediates the host-microbiota dialog.