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Human Decidual Tissue Contains Differentiated CD8+ Effector-Memory T Cells with Unique Properties

2010; American Association of Immunologists; Volume: 185; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4049/jimmunol.0903597

1550-6606

Tamara Tilburgs, Dorrith Schonkeren, Michael Eikmans, Nicole M. A. Nagtzaam, Gert Datema, Godelieve M.J.S. Swings, Frans A. Prins, Jan M. van Lith, Barbara J. van der Mast, Dave L. Roelen, Sicco A. Scherjon, Frans H.J. Claas,

COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction

During pregnancy, maternal lymphocytes at the fetal-maternal interface play a key role in the immune acceptance of the allogeneic fetus. Recently, CD4(+)CD25(bright) 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.