Analysis of antigen-specific T cell responses has become an increasingly used tool in immune monitoring from basic research to clinical trial settings. Although an increasing number of promising data from correlative studies has been published, the lack of conformity on reporting such data hampers the ability to objectively evaluate data.

Here we present a project called Minimal Information About T cell Assays (“MIATA”). With this project we propose to generate recommendations on the minimum information required to allow an objective and thorough interpretation of published results from immunological T cell assays.

Any recommendation in the 5 proposed Modules is strictly based on supporting published data.

MIATA has two main goals that will be addressed in a two-step approach:

1. Mid-term goal of MIATA: Establishment of a minimal information reporting framework for human T cell immune monitoring methods in scientific publications. 

2. Long-term goal of MIATA: Based on its successful implementation and substantiated feasibility and usefulness for scientific publications, adapt the reporting framework for annotations of immune monitoring data sets from human studies for a central database, possibly in the context of a Human Immunity Project [1]. This may include structured database vocabulary. ([1] Leslie M. Immunology uncaged. Science 327; 26 March 2010, 1573)

We want to emphasize that MIATA does not impose the use of any standardized protocol or reagents nor does it encourage or discourage any specific grade of assay validation since this would potentially be an obstacle to innovation and improvement of testing procedures. MIATA concentrates on defining the content and structure of information reported from immunoassays.

This MIATA web site is the official, yet independent tool to reach the intermediate and long-term goal with:

1. Listing of current MIATA modules which are being reviewed and updated
2. Listing of previous, already updated MIATA modules
3. Comments and input from the field collected during the publication consultation phase, workshops and webinars
4. Listing of all contributors
5. Required actions steps

We invite the community to actively participate in the process of shaping MIATA.

Please review the official announcement of the MIATA project in a Letter to Immunity, October 16, 2009.

Please also review the conclusions from the first MIATA consensus workshop, March 19, 2010.

The Immunoguiding Program (CIP) of the Association of Immunotherapy of Cancer (CIMT) supports the MIATA concept and its public consultation approach.

The Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium (CIC) of the  Cancer  Research Institute (CRI) supports the MIATA concept and its public consultation approach.

The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC)) of Stanford University supports the MIATA concept and its public consultation approach.

The Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori (NIBIT) supports the MIATA concept and its public consultation approach.