Skip Navigation


International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on September 23, 2008
International Immunology 2008 20(11):1395-1405; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxn105
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/11/1395    most recent
dxn105v2
dxn105v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vacca, P.
Right arrow Articles by Mingari, M. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vacca, P.
Right arrow Articles by Mingari, M. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Japanese Society for Immunology. 2008. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Regulatory role of NKp44, NKp46, DNAM-1 and NKG2D receptors in the interaction between NK cells and trophoblast cells. Evidence for divergent functional profiles of decidual versus peripheral NK cells

Paola Vacca1, Claudia Cantoni1,2,3, Carola Prato1, Ezio Fulcheri4, Alessandro Moretta1,3, Lorenzo Moretta1,2,3 and Maria Cristina Mingari1,5

1 Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy
2 Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Dipartimento Immunologia Clinica e Sperimentale, Genova, Italy
3 Centro di Eccellenza per la Ricerca Biomedica, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy
4 Dipartimento di Discipline Chirurgiche, Morfologiche e Metodologie Integrate, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy
5 Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Dipartimento Medicina Traslazionale Oncologica, Genova, Italy

Correspondence to: L. Moretta; E-mail: lorenzomoretta{at}ospedale-gaslini.ge.it

During the first trimester of pregnancy NK cells represent >50% of the lymphoid cells present in the human decidua where they reside in close contact with trophoblast cells. Because in decidual tissues NK cell activation and function may be induced by this interaction, we analyzed the cellular ligands recognized by activating NK receptors expressed on trophoblast cells. We show that these cells primarily express the NKp44 and DNAM-1 ligands and that interaction between these ligands and their corresponding receptors results in NK cell triggering. While activated peripheral blood NK (pNK) cells lysed the trophoblast cell lines JAR and JEG3, decidual NK (dNK) cells did not. On the other hand, they released VEGF, SDF-1, IP10 and large amounts of IL-8. Interaction with K562 target cells was exploited to induce optimal NK cell triggering, allowing a parallel, quantitative assessment of both cytolytic activity and cytokine production elicited by dNK cells. While dNK cells were unable to kill K562 even at high effector:target (E:T) ratios, they released large amounts of IL-8 also at low E:T ratios, a scenario compatible with dNK trophoblast cells interaction occurring within decidual tissues.

Keywords: angiogenetic cytokines in pregnancy, decidual NK cells, DNAM-1, innate immunity in pregnancy, NKp44, NKp46, NKG2D, trophoblast cells

Transmitting editor: E. Vivier

Received 21 June 2008, accepted 5 August 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Virol.Home page
T. F. Mselle, A. L. Howell, M. Ghosh, C. R. Wira, and C. L. Sentman
Human Uterine Natural Killer Cells but Not Blood Natural Killer Cells Inhibit Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection by Secretion of CXCL12
J. Virol., November 1, 2009; 83(21): 11188 - 11195.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.