Tolerance to non-inherited maternal antigen is sustained by LysM⁺ CD11c⁺ maternal microchimeric cells.

ABSTRACT: Maternal-fetal microchimerism is increasingly linked with both inflammatory disorders and immune tolerance phenotypes. However, finding microchimeric cells in target tissues does not establish causality, which require platforms for manipulating these rare and heterogeneous cells. Here, we studied maternal microchimeric cells (MMc) that sustain non-inherited maternal antigen (NIMA) tolerance. Complete MMc depletion overturned hallmark features of NIMA-specific tolerance including FOXP3⁺ regulatory T cell expansion and cross-generational resiliency against fetal wastage. Stepwise depletion of individual MMc subsets showed that NIMA-specific tolerance is sustained exclusively by microchimerism in maternal LysM⁺ CD11c⁺ Vav1⁺ leukocyte cells. Interest

SUBMITTER: Peng Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12412910 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature