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. 2012 Sep 20;367(12):1159-61.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMcibr1207279.

Inducing tolerance to pregnancy

Zev Williams  1
Affiliations

Inducing tolerance to pregnancy

Zev Williams. N Engl J Med. .
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Regulatory T Cells and Spontaneous Abortion
Fetal antigens, including paternal alloantigens, interface with the maternal immune system within the uteroplacental unit and proximal lymph nodes. A recent study by Samstein et al. suggests that insertion of a mobile genetic element containing the conserved noncoding sequence 1 (CNS1) near the FOXP3 gene at the time of the evolutionary radiation of placental mammals enabled the emergence of extrathymic or peripheral regulatory T cells (pTregs) (Panel A). These investigators found that paternal alloantigens trigger the expansion of pTregs that suppress effector T cells and mitigate maternal–fetal conflict induced by the maternal immune system. This suggests that when pTregs are absent, effector T cells respond to the paternal alloantigens, infiltrate the placenta, and cause inflammatory changes that ultimately result in spontaneous abortion (Panel B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Zheng Y, Josefowicz SZ, Chaundhry A, Peng XP, Forbush K, Rudensky AY. Role of conserved non-coding DNA elements in the Foxp3 gene in regulatory T-cell fate. Nature. 2010;463:808–12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Somerset DA, Zheng Y, Kilby MD, Sansom DM, Drayson MT. Normal human pregnancy is associated with an elevation in the immune suppressive CD25+CD4+ regulatory T-cell subset. Immunology. 2004;112:38–43. - PMC - PubMed
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