Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kopcow HD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2587580 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Kopcow Hernan D HD Rosetti Florencia F Leung Yiuka Y Allan David S J DS Kutok Jeffrey L JL Strominger Jack L JL
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20081114 47
The human fetus is not rejected by the maternal immune system despite expressing paternal antigens. Natural killer cells, the major lymphocyte population of the human decidua (dNKs), express genes with immunomodulatory potential. These include galectin-1 (gal1), a lectin with apoptotic activity on activated CD8(+) T cells, Th1 and Th17 CD4(+) cells. Although many cell types at the maternal-fetal interface also produce gal1, its production by dNKs has been used here to study its function in pregn ...[more]