Abstract
γδT cells are non-conventional T cells and serve as the bridge for connecting the innate and adaptive immune systems. γδT cells form a substantial population at barrier sites and play an important role in the development of physiology, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and tumors. γδT cells not only distribute in the maternal-fetal interface during pregnancy but also in non-pregnant uterus. However, the phenotypes and functions of γδT cells in uterus were not clear. In the current study, we found that the percentages of γδT cells were significantly higher in uterus than peripheral blood and most of γδT cells in uterus were distributed in endometrium. Further studies indicated that the majority of γδT cells in uterus were memory cells with higher expression of CD44 and CD27 but lower expression of CD62L and CCR7 compared to those in blood. In addition, we found that γδT cells in uterus were tissue resident memory γδT cells expressing CD69, expressed high levels of CCR6, GranzymeB and CD107a. Moreover, γδT cells in uterus were activated and fully expressed transcription factor RORγt. After short time of activation, γδT cells in uterus significantly expressed high levels of IL-17 but not IFN-γ, which promotes the invasion of murine trophocytes. Taken together, our study will lay the foundation for future research on uterine γδT cells in pregnancy and autoimmune disease.
Highlights
T cells can be divided into abT cells and gdT cells according to the constitution of T cell receptor (TCR)
To our knowledge for the first time, we found that gdT cells were enriched in uterus and the majority of gdT cells in uterus were tissue resident memory cells expressing significant high percentages of interleukin 17 (IL-17) with transcription factor RORgt but not interferon g (IFN-g)
To find out the distribution of gdT cells in uterus tissues, immunofluorescence analysis of paraffin uterus sections confirmed that most gdT cells including T cells in uterus distributed in endometrium, and a small part were distributed in the myometrium, but not in perimetrium (Figure 1F)
Summary
T cells can be divided into abT cells and gdT cells according to the constitution of T cell receptor (TCR). It has been previously reported that gdT cells play divergent roles in different tissues, such as pathogen clearance, core body temperature control in Tissue Resident Memory gdT Cell in Uterus adipose and synaptic plasticity regulation in meninges (7–9). In contrast to their beneficial role, gdT cells can lead to negative outcomes or exacerbate disease in some autoimmune diseases and cancers (10–12). TRM cells could be long-term residency in peripheral tissues and provide protective immunity against pathogens that enter through the local tissues (14–16). Few literature on the phenotypic and functional characteristics of gdT cells in uterus has been published
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