In:
European Journal of Immunology, Wiley, Vol. 46, No. 8 ( 2016-08), p. 2008-2017
Abstract:
During normal pregnancy, the thymus undergoes a severe reduction in size and thymocyte output, which may contribute to maternal–fetal tolerance. It is presently unknown whether the pregnancy‐induced thymic involution also affects nonlymphoid thymic cell populations and whether these changes in stromal cells play a role in the reduction in thymocyte numbers. Here, we characterize the changes in thymic lymphoid and nonlymphoid cells and show that pregnancy results in a reduction of all major thymic lymphoid cell populations, including the early T‐lymphoid progenitors (TLPs) and thymic regulatory T cells. In addition to the thymocytes, the thymic involution also includes all major nonlymphoid cell populations, which show a profound reduction in cell numbers. We also show that during pregnancy, the thymic nonlymphoid cells exhibit decreased expression of chemokines that are essential for TLP homing: CCL25, CXCL12, CCL21, and CCL19. In addition, the expression of these chemokines was substantially downregulated by short‐term treatment with progesterone but not estrogen. Collectively, these findings suggest a novel mechanism for the pregnancy‐induced reduction in TLP homing and the resulting thymic involution.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0014-2980
,
1521-4141
DOI:
10.1002/eji.201646309
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2016
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1491907-2
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