Springer Seminars in Immunopathology

, Volume 28, Issue 1, pp 31–39 | Cite as

Regulatory T cells in pregnancy

Review
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Tolerance mechanisms are responsible for the survival of the fetus within the maternal uterus without being attacked by the cells of the maternal immune system despite their direct contact. Regulatory T cells (Treg) were claimed to be important players in the tolerance towards the fetus bearing alloantigens. Recent evidence confirmed an augmentation in the number of Treg during pregnancy and, most importantly, diminished numbers of Treg were associated with immunological rejection of the fetus. This could be prevented by adoptively transferring CD4+/CD25+ Treg cells from normal pregnant mice into abortion-prone animals. Treg prevented abortion while creating a transient tolerant microenvironment characterized by high levels of TGF-β, LIF, and HO-1. Downregulated levels of Treg were accordingly also reported during human miscarriage. Furthermore, we have evidence suggesting that, to be protective, Treg need to be activated by male antigens during pregnancy.

Keywords

Normal Pregnancy Pregnancy Failure Maternal Immune System Male Antigen Paternal Antigen 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Maria Laura Zenclussen for critical reading of the paper and to Hans-Dieter Volk for his invaluable help in designing the experiments discussed in this review and for his permanent support and encouragement.

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© Springer-Verlag 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Institute of Medical Immunology, CharitéMedical University BerlinBerlinGermany
  2. 2.Institut für Medizinische Immunologie, Biomedizinisches Forschungszentrum, Raum 2.0534, CharitéCampus Virchow KlinikumBerlinGermany

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