Data from: MR1-restricted mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells respond to mycobacterial vaccination and infection in nonhuman primates

Studies on mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAITs) in nonhuman
primates (NHP), a physiologically relevant model of human immunity, are
handicapped due to a lack of macaque MAIT-specific reagents. Here we show
that while MR1 ligand-contact residues are conserved between human and
multiple NHP species, three T-cell receptor contact-residue mutations in
NHP MR1 diminish binding of human MR1 tetramers to macaque MAITs.
Construction of naturally loaded macaque MR1 tetramers facilitated
identification and characterization of macaque MR1-binding ligands and
MAITs, both of which mirrored their human counterparts. Using the macaque
MR1 tetramer we show that NHP MAITs activated in vivo in response to both
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination and Mycobacterium tuberculosis
infection. These results demonstrate that NHP and human MR1 and MAITs
function analogously, and establish a preclinical animal model to test
MAIT-targeted vaccines and therapeutics for human infectious and
autoimmune disease.