Dataset Information

Fetal intervention increases maternal T cell awareness of the foreign conceptus and can lead to immune-mediated fetal demise.

ABSTRACT: Fetal interventions to diagnose and treat congenital anomalies are growing in popularity but often lead to preterm labor. The possible contribution of the maternal adaptive immune system to postsurgical pregnancy complications has not been explored. We recently showed that fetal intervention in mice increases maternal T cell trafficking into the fetus and hypothesized that this process also may lead to increased maternal T cell recognition of the foreign conceptus and subsequent breakdown in maternal-fetal tolerance. In this study, we show that fetal intervention in mice results in accumulation of maternal T cells in the uterus and that these activated cells can produce effector cytokines. In adoptive transfer experiments, maternal T cells specific for a fetal alloantigen proliferate after fetal intervention, escape apoptosis, and become enriched compared with endogenous T cells in the uterus and uterine-draining lymph nodes. Finally, we demonstrate that such activation and accumulation can have a functional consequence: in utero transplantation of hematopoietic cells carrying the fetal alloantigen leads to enhanced demise of semiallogeneic fetuses within a litter. We further show that maternal T cells are necessary for this phenomenon. These results suggest that fetal intervention enhances maternal T cell recognition of the fetus and that T cell activation may be a culprit in postsurgical pregnancy complications. Our results have clinical implications for understanding and preventing complications associated with fetal surgery such as preterm labor.

SUBMITTER: Wegorzewska M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4268439 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Fetal intervention increases maternal T cell awareness of the foreign conceptus and can lead to immune-mediated fetal demise.

Wegorzewska Marta M Nijagal Amar A Wong Charissa M CM Le Tom T Lescano Ninnia N Tang Qizhi Q MacKenzie Tippi C TC

Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 20140110 4

Fetal interventions to diagnose and treat congenital anomalies are growing in popularity but often lead to preterm labor. The possible contribution of the maternal adaptive immune system to postsurgical pregnancy complications has not been explored. We recently showed that fetal intervention in mice increases maternal T cell trafficking into the fetus and hypothesized that this process also may lead to increased maternal T cell recognition of the foreign conceptus and subsequent breakdown in mat ...[more]

PMID: 24415782

Similar Datasets

Project description:Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is estimated to impact between 0.4% and 5% of pregnancies worldwide. This disease is associated with elevated maternal bile acids and frequently untoward neonatal outcomes such as respiratory distress and asphyxia. Multiple candidate genes have been implicated, but none have provided insight into the mechanisms of neonatal respiratory distress and death. Herein our studies demonstrate that maternal cholestasis (due to Abcb11 deficiency) produces 100% neonatal death within 24h due to atelectasis producing pulmonary hypoxia, which recapitulates the respiratory distress and asphyxia of human ICP. We show that these neonates have elevated pulmonary bile acids that are associated with disrupted structure of pulmonary surfactant. Maternal absence of Nr1i2 superimposed upon Abcb11 deficiency strongly increased neonatal survival and is directly related to reduced maternal bile acid concentrations. The mechanism accounting for reduced serum bile acids in the mothers deficient in both Nr1i2 and Abcb11 appears related to disrupted reabsorption of intestinal bile acids due to changes in transporter expression. These findings provide novel insights into pulmonary failure by revealing bile acids capability to disrupt the structure of surfactant producing collapsed alveoli, pulmonary failure and ultimately death. These findings have important implications for neonatal health especially when maternal bile acids are elevated during pregnancy and highlight a potential pathway and targets amenable to therapeutic intervention to ameliorate this condition. We used microarrays to measure changes in gene expression profiles in lung tissues from Abcb11+/- lungs after interbreeding C57BL/6 wild-type female or C57BL/6 Abcb11-/- female mice against either C57BL/6 wild-type male mice or C57BL/6 Abcb11-/- male mice to create only heterozygote offspring. We also measured profiles in liver tissues from age-matched C57BL/6 wild-type and C57BL/6 Abcb11-/- mice. Lung tissues were collected from day E17.5, E18.5 and neonatal (N0) mice. Liver tissues were collected from 1.5-month-old C57BL/6 wildtype and Abcb11-/- mice.

Dataset Information

Fetal intervention increases maternal T cell awareness of the foreign conceptus and can lead to immune-mediated fetal demise.

Publications

Fetal intervention increases maternal T cell awareness of the foreign conceptus and can lead to immune-mediated fetal demise.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets