Molecular definition of group 1 innate lymphoid cells in the mouse uterus.
Iva FilipovicLaura ChiossonePaola VaccaRussell S HamiltonTiziano IngegnereJean-Marc DoisneDelia A HawkesMaria Cristina MingariAndrew M SharkeyAlessandro MorettaFrancesco ColucciPublished in: Nature communications (2018)
Determining the function of uterine lymphocytes is challenging because of the dynamic changes in response to sex hormones and, during pregnancy, to the invading foetal trophoblast cells. Here we provide a genome-wide transcriptome atlas of mouse uterine group 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) at mid-gestation. Tissue-resident Eomes+CD49a+ NK cells (trNK), which resemble human uterine NK cells, are most abundant during early pregnancy, and have gene signatures associated with TGF-β responses and interactions with trophoblast, epithelial, endothelial, smooth muscle cells, leucocytes and extracellular matrix. Conventional NK cells expand late in gestation and may engage in crosstalk with trNK cells involving IL-18 and IFN-γ. Eomes-CD49a+ ILC1s dominate before puberty, and specifically expand in second pregnancies when the expression of the memory cell marker CXCR6 is upregulated. These results identify trNK cells as the cellular hub of uterine group 1 ILCs, and mark CXCR6+ ILC1s as potential memory cells of pregnancy.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- nk cells
- cell cycle arrest
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- oxidative stress
- endothelial cells
- single cell
- immune response
- stem cells
- pregnant women
- gene expression
- poor prognosis
- signaling pathway
- cell proliferation
- dna methylation
- working memory
- risk assessment
- cell therapy
- gestational age
- bone marrow
- quality improvement