Dendritic cell entrapment within the pregnant uterus inhibits immune surveillance of the maternal/fetal interface in mice.

ABSTRACT: Embryo implantation induces formation of the decidua, a stromal cell-derived structure that encases the fetus and placenta. Using the mouse as a model organism, we have found that this tissue reaction prevents DCs stationed at the maternal/fetal interface from migrating to the lymphatic vessels of the uterus and thus reaching the draining lymph nodes. Strikingly, decidual DCs remained immobile even after being stimulated with LPS and exhibiting responsiveness to CCL21, the chemokine that drives DC entry into lymphatic vessels. An analysis of maternal T cell reactivity toward a surrogate fetal/placental antigen furthermore revealed that regional T cell responses toward the fetus and placenta were driven by passive antigen transport and thus the tolerogenic mode of antigen presentation that

SUBMITTER: Collins MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2701881 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature