Regulatory T cells mediate maternal tolerance to the fetus

VR Aluvihare, M Kallikourdis, AG Betz - Nature immunology, 2004 - nature.com
Nature immunology, 2004nature.com
Pregnancy constitutes a major challenge to the maternal immune system, as it has to
tolerate the persistence of paternal alloantigen. Although localized mechanisms contribute
to fetal evasion from immune attack, maternal alloreactive lymphocytes persist. We
demonstrate here an alloantigen-independent, systemic expansion of the maternal CD25+ T
cell pool during pregnancy and show that this population contains dominant regulatory T cell
activity. In addition to their function in suppressing autoimmune responses, maternal …
Abstract
Pregnancy constitutes a major challenge to the maternal immune system, as it has to tolerate the persistence of paternal alloantigen. Although localized mechanisms contribute to fetal evasion from immune attack, maternal alloreactive lymphocytes persist. We demonstrate here an alloantigen-independent, systemic expansion of the maternal CD25+ T cell pool during pregnancy and show that this population contains dominant regulatory T cell activity. In addition to their function in suppressing autoimmune responses, maternal regulatory T cells suppressed an aggressive allogeneic response directed against the fetus. Their absence led to a failure of gestation due to immunological rejection of the fetus.
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