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Microbial Metabolites Potentiate MAIT Cell Anti-Tumor Immunity Against Solid Tumors

Zhu, Y.; Shen, X.; Chen, Y.; Ma, N.; Zhang, C.; Zhao, A. S.; Tian, Y.; Gumate, S.; Huang, J.; Lin, S.; Wang, A.; Agopian, V. G.; Li, Y.-R.; Yang, L.

2026-07-25 cancer biology
10.64898/2026.07.24.740456 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells sense riboflavin metabolites through the monomorphic antigen-presenting molecule MR1, providing a unique opportunity to therapeutically mobilize a broadly shared T cell population without genetic engineering. Here, we show that the highly potent microbial metabolites, 5-OP-RU and 5-OE-RU, can be exploited as pharmacologic precision immune activators to drive human MAIT cell responses against solid tumors. Ligand stimulation in human co-culture systems elicited robust MAIT cell cytotoxicity, inflammatory cytokine secretion, and transcriptional states transformation. In vivo administration of riboflavin ligands 5-OP-RU significantly suppressed tumor growth in xenograft liver cancer models. Metabolite-driven MAIT activation also reprogrammed the local immune landscape, enhancing effector function and overcoming features of the immunosuppressive niche by markedly eliminating tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) within the tumor microenvironment (TME). These findings reveal that microbial riboflavin metabolites can power and redirect MAIT cells to solid tumors, establishing MR1-metabolite signaling as a tractable therapeutic axis for liver cancer and other solid malignancies.

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