Finally, to substantiate the relevance of NKG2D receptor expression on bone marrow MAIT cells, we cultured bone marrow MAIT cells derived from 10 patients with aplastic anemia in the presence or absence of recombinant MICA (rMICA), one of the NKG2D ligands (NKG2D-Ls), and assessed the potential changes in the expression of various cell surface proteins known to be upregulated in activated T cells. The gene discussed is MICA; the disease is aplastic anemia.