Postnatal depletion of maternal cells biases T lymphocytes and natural killer cells' profiles toward early activation in the spleen.
Flore S CastellanNaoki IriePublished in: Biology open (2022)
The maternal cells transferred into the fetus during gestation persist long after birth in the progeny. These maternal cells have been hypothesized to promote the maturation of the fetal immune system in utero but there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of their potential roles after birth. To provide insights into these maternal cells' postnatal functional roles, we set up a transgenic mouse model to specifically eliminate maternal cells in the neonates by diphtheria toxin injection and confirmed significant depletion in the spleens. We then performed immunophenotyping of the spleens of two-week-old pups by mass cytometry to pinpoint the immune profile differences driven by the depletion of maternal cells in early postnatal life. We observed a heightened expression of markers related to activation and maturation in some natural killer and T cell populations. We hypothesize these results to indicate a potential postnatal regulation of lymphocytic responses by maternal cells. Together, our findings highlight an immunological influence of maternal microchimeric cells postnatally, possibly protecting against adverse hypersensitivity reactions of the neonate at a crucial time of new encounters with self and environmental antigens.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- preterm infants
- mouse model
- pregnancy outcomes
- randomized controlled trial
- healthcare
- clinical trial
- cell death
- emergency department
- oxidative stress
- body mass index
- cell proliferation
- risk assessment
- climate change
- single cell
- long non coding rna
- dendritic cells
- natural killer cells
- low birth weight
- flow cytometry