Characterization of the immune landscape at the maternal-fetal interface and the role of endogenous T cells in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia
Yuxu Liu, Yinan Jiang, Huiling Zhang, Xiaowei Wei, Xintong Lai, Qian Li, Yi Yuan, Yi Lin, Weihong ZengBackground:
Preeclampsia (PE) is a major cause of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The roles and characteristics of immune cells in PE pathogenesis remain incompletely understood.
Methods:
We collected the basal decidua, placentas, fetal membranes and umbilical cord blood from PE patients and healthy pregnant women as well as the placentas, uteri, livers, spleens and peripheral blood from normal pregnant and N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) induced PE mice, and performed multicolor flow cytometry to characterize the immune-cell landscapes. In addition, endogenous CD4 + or CD8 + T cells were depleted in the PE mice by intraperitoneal injection of anti-CD4 (GK1.5) or anti-CD8 (2.43) depletion monoclonal antibody, and then PE-related symptoms were evaluated.
Results:
Immune cells showed distinct enrichment patterns across different tissues at the maternal-fetal interface in pregnant women, and the immune landscape at the maternal-fetal interface differed between PE patients and healthy pregnancies. Similar results were observed in the normal pregnant and L-NAME induced PE mice. Furthermore,
Conclusion:
Our study demonstrated a distinct landscape of immune cells at the maternal-fetal interface in normal and PE pregnancies and revealed a pathogenetic role of endogenous CD4 + T cells in PE development, which provided new insights into PE pathogenesis and potential targets for PE prevention.