In:
The Journal of Immunology, The American Association of Immunologists, Vol. 185, No. 7 ( 2010-10-01), p. 4470-4477
Abstract:
During pregnancy, maternal lymphocytes at the fetal–maternal interface play a key role in the immune acceptance of the allogeneic fetus. Recently, CD4+CD25bright regulatory T cells have been shown to be concentrated in decidual tissue, where they are able to suppress fetus-specific and nonspecific immune responses. Decidual CD8+ T cells are the main candidates to recognize and respond to fetal HLA-C at the fetal–maternal interface, but data on the characteristics of these cells are limited. In this study we examined the decidual and peripheral CD8+ T cell pool for CD45RA, CCR7, CD28, and CD27 expression, using nine-color flow cytometry. Our data demonstrate that decidual CD8+ T cells mainly consist of differentiated CD45RA−CCR7− effector-memory (EM) cells, whereas unprimed CD45RA+CCR7+ naive cells are almost absent. Compared with peripheral blood EM CD8+ T cells, the decidual EM CD8+ T cells display a significantly reduced expression of perforin and granzyme B, which was confirmed by immunohistochemistry of decidual tissue sections. Interestingly, quantitative PCR analysis demonstrates an increased perforin and granzyme B mRNA content in decidual EM CD8+ T cells in comparison with peripheral blood EM CD8+ T cells. The presence of high levels of perforin and granzyme B mRNA in decidual EM T cells suggests that decidual CD8+ T cells pursue alternative means of EM cell differentiation that may include a blockade of perforin and granzyme B mRNA translation into functional perforin and granzyme B proteins. Regulation of decidual CD8+ T cell differentiation may play a crucial role in maternal immune tolerance to the allogeneic fetus.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0022-1767
,
1550-6606
DOI:
10.4049/jimmunol.0903597
Language:
English
Publisher:
The American Association of Immunologists
Publication Date:
2010
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1475085-5
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