FUNCTIONAL PLASTICITY OF DECIDUAL NATURAL KILLER CELLS DURING MATERNAL HUMAIN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event FUNCTIONAL PLASTICITY OF DECIDUAL NATURAL KILLER CELLS DURING MATERNAL HUMAIN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat1* and Johan Siewiera1 1 Inserm UMR1043 - CNRS UMR5282 - Université Toulouse III, Immunology, France Circulating Natural Killer cells constitute the first line of defense against invading pathogens. These effectors of the innate immune system recognize and kill tumor or viral-infected cells. In addition to peripheral blood and lymphoid organs, NK cells (dNK) are found in the decidua basalis of the human pregnant uterus. Decidual NK cells secrete a large variety of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors but are poorly cytotoxic. We previously showed that dNK cells freshly isolated from the 1st trimester decidua basalis are able to kill target cells upon ligation of NKp46 activating receptor. This cytotoxic capacity is under the control of CD94/NKG2A inhibiting receptor. We challenged the hypothesis that upon viral infection, dNK cells receive activating signals that overcome the inhibitory signal and trigger their cytotoxic effector function. Using an ex vivo autologous system, we describe a mechanism by which dNK cells kill HCMV infected targets. We show that dNK cells engage activating immune synapse with HCMV-infected autologous targets. dNK cells stimulated with HCMV-infected targets are able to reorganize rapidly both their microtubule organizing center and their Golgi apparatus. These changes in cell morphology result in focused delivery of lytic granules and subsequent killing of target cells. Furthermore, dNK cells stimulated with infected autologous fibroblasts acquired a cytotoxic phenotype. Taken together our data provide the first evidence that dNK cells may be involved in the protection of the fetus against maternal viral infections. Immune synapse between dNK cell (perforin in red) and uterin fibroblast that was infected with human cytomegalovirus. Actin in green, alpha tubulin in blue. Images were taken on a Zeiss confocal microscope (x63) at the U1043 imaging core facility. Figure 1 References Siewiera J, El Costa H, Tabiasco J, Berrebi A, Cartron G, Le Bouteiller P, Jabrane-Ferrat N. Human cytomegalovirus infection elicits new decidual natural killer cell effector functions.PLoS Pathog. 2013 Apr;9(4):e1003257. Keywords: Natural Killer cells, Pregnancy, congenital infection, Cytomegalovirus, Cytotoxicity Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Innate immunity Citation: Jabrane-Ferrat N and Siewiera J (2013). FUNCTIONAL PLASTICITY OF DECIDUAL NATURAL KILLER CELLS DURING MATERNAL HUMAIN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.01137 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 17 Jul 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat, Inserm UMR1043 - CNRS UMR5282 - Université Toulouse III, Immunology, Toulouse, Midi-Pyrenees, 31000, France, nabila.jabrane-ferrat@inserm.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat Johan Siewiera Google Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat Johan Siewiera Google Scholar Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat Johan Siewiera PubMed Nabila Jabrane-Ferrat Johan Siewiera Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.