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Summary
DescriptionTregs in mouse pregnancy.jpg
English: Thymic Tregs (tTregs) recognizing maternal/fetal self-antigens differentiate in the thymus from the CD4+ T-cell precursors by up-regulating Foxp3 expression. During the estrus cycle, there is an increase in tTregs in the periphery and the uterus where, together with tolerogenic dendritic cells (tDC) and uterine NK (uNK) cells, they prepare a uterine tolerogenic environment for pregnancy under a hormonal control. During the estrus phase, recruitment of tTregs at ovulation is maximum in order to prepare a tolerogenic uterine environment for a potential embryo implantation. During pregnancy, self-antigen-specific activated/memory tTregs mount a first-line tolerogenic response (28). Later, the first fetal/paternal alloantigens generated by fetal cells trigger an immune response to paternal alloantigens (85). Alloantigen presentation through tDCs favors the conversion of naïve CD4+ T-cells in induced peripheral Tregs (pTregs) by up-regulating Foxp3 and its Cigs1 enhancer gene expression (84). The clonal expansions of allospecific pTregs together with the proliferation of tTregs, uNKs, and tDCs during the mid-gestation periods ensure the maintenance of immune tolerance to the fetus and allow vascularization to guarantee a steady supply of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus for a proper growth and development. Generation of memory pTregs specific for paternal antigens will contribute to tolerance induction to the same fetal/paternal alloantigen exposure in case of a secondary pregnancy with the same paternal antigens. The tTregs, uNKs, and tDCs cross-talk is yet poorly defined.
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