Maternal-fetal conflict averted by progesterone- induced FOXP3+ regulatory T cells.

ABSTRACT: Pregnancy stimulates an intricately coordinated assortment of physiological changes to accommodate growth of the developing fetus, while simultaneously averting rejection of genetically foreign fetal cells and tissues. Despite increasing evidence that expansion of immune-suppressive maternal regulatory T cells enforces fetal tolerance and protects against pregnancy complications, the pregnancy-associated signals driving this essential adaptation remain poorly understood. Here we show that the female reproductive hormone, progesterone, coordinates immune tolerance by stimulating expansion of FOXP3+ regulatory T cells. Conditional loss of the canonical nuclear progesterone receptor in maternal FOXP3+ regulatory T cells blunts their proliferation and accumulation, which is associated with fet

SUBMITTER: Severance AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9142685 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature