Polyunsaturated fatty acid-induced metabolic exhaustion and ferroptosis impair the anti-tumour function of MAIT cells in MASLD.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells constitute a highly abundant innate-like T cell population in the human liver that is critical for immune surveillance of hepatic cancers but often dysfunctional in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for unclear reasons. Here, we sought to determine mechanisms that drive MAIT cells dysfunction in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a chronic liver disease predisposing patients for HCC development.

METHODS

We studied MAIT cell functionality, metabolism and anti-cancer activity directly ex vivo in patients with MASLD, as well as in co-culture models mimicking MASLD. (Single-cell) RNA sequencing was used for translation into clinical cohorts of patients with MASLD and MASLD-associated HCC.

RESULTS

We show that MAIT cells have lost their effector functions in patients with MASLD. We uncover that MAIT cell dysfunction is caused by MASLD-associated polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which selectively accumulate in MAIT cells but not conventional CD8+ T cells or NK cells. Mechanistically, PUFAs drive MAIT cell dysfunction through intracellular formation of lipid peroxides that promote a state of 'metabolic exhaustion' characterised by compromised mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in MAIT cells. Excessive signalling through this MASLD-PUFA-lipid peroxide axis results in MAIT cell death by ferroptosis. Interference with PUFA-induced lipid peroxide formation in MAIT cells reversed their metabolic exhaustion and prevented ferroptotic MAIT cell death, thereby restoring MAIT cell effector function and anti-cancer activity. In patients with HCC, high enrichment of the MAIT cell-PUFA gene signature linked to MAIT cell dysfunction was associated with poor survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings uncover a novel immunometabolic axis that serves as a functional barrier for MAIT cell-mediated anti-cancer immunity and could be exploited for enhancement of immunotherapy. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: ; This study identifies a novel immunometabolic axis by which polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) accumulating in MASLD liver tissue drive MAIT cell dysfunction through lipid peroxide-induced metabolic exhaustion and ferroptosis, thereby impairing their anti-tumour activity. These findings reveal how MASLD creates an immune-permissive environment that may facilitate HCC development and -progression. Targeting the PUFA-lipid peroxide axis could restore MAIT cell function and enhance current immunotherapeutic anti-cancer strategies.