TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural killer cells promote immune tolerance by regulating inflammatory TH17 cells at the human maternal-fetal interface
AU - Fu, Binqing
AU - Li, Xianchang
AU - Sun, Rui
AU - Tong, Xianhong
AU - Ling, Bin
AU - Tian, Zhigang
AU - Wei, Haiming
PY - 2013/1/15
Y1 - 2013/1/15
N2 - Natural killer (NK) cells accumulate at the maternal-fetal interface in large numbers, but their exact roles in successful pregnancy remain poorly defined. Here, we provide evidence that TH17 cells and local inflammation can occur at the maternal-fetal interface during natural allogenic pregnancies. We found that decidual NK cells promote immune tolerance and successful pregnancy by dampening inflammatory TH17 cells via IFN-γ secreted by the CD56brightCD27+ NK subset. This NK-cell-mediated regulatory response is lost in patients who experience recurrent spontaneous abortions, which results in a prominent TH17 response and extensive local inflammation. This local in flammatory response further affects the regulatory function of NK cells, leading to the eventual loss of maternal-fetal tolerance. Thus, our data identify NK cells as key regulatory cells at the maternal-fetal interface by suppressing T H17-mediated local inflammation.
AB - Natural killer (NK) cells accumulate at the maternal-fetal interface in large numbers, but their exact roles in successful pregnancy remain poorly defined. Here, we provide evidence that TH17 cells and local inflammation can occur at the maternal-fetal interface during natural allogenic pregnancies. We found that decidual NK cells promote immune tolerance and successful pregnancy by dampening inflammatory TH17 cells via IFN-γ secreted by the CD56brightCD27+ NK subset. This NK-cell-mediated regulatory response is lost in patients who experience recurrent spontaneous abortions, which results in a prominent TH17 response and extensive local inflammation. This local in flammatory response further affects the regulatory function of NK cells, leading to the eventual loss of maternal-fetal tolerance. Thus, our data identify NK cells as key regulatory cells at the maternal-fetal interface by suppressing T H17-mediated local inflammation.
KW - Fetomaternal tolerance
KW - Regulatory NK cells
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1206322110
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1206322110
M3 - Article
C2 - 23271808
AN - SCOPUS:84872538663
VL - 110
SP - E231-E240
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 3
ER -