TBX21 and autoimmune disease: Our transcriptomic analyses suggest an enhanced pro-inflammatory response of MAIT cells upon BCG stimulation, including an enhanced expression of TNF, TBX21 (encoding the transcription factor Tbet), and IFNGR1. TNFα bears a prominent early anti-tuberculosis function, which was shown in mouse studies (68) and also supported by severe tuberculosis in human autoimmune diseases with anti-TNFα therapies (67).