Specific decidual CD14(+) cells hamper cognate NK cell proliferation and cytolytic mediator expression after mucin 1 treatment in vitro

GMP-Based Isolation of Full-Term Human Placenta-Derived NK Cells for CAR-NK Cell Therapy in Malignant Melanoma

Melanoma, a severe type of skin cancer, poses significant management challenges due to its resistance to available treatments. Despite this obstacle, the high immunogenicity of melanoma renders it amenable to immune therapy, and NK cells have been identified as possessing anti-tumor properties in immunotherapy. The development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified NK cells, or CAR-NK cells, has shown potential in enhancing immunotherapeutic regimens. To achieve this, researchers have explored various sources of NK cells, including those derived from the placenta, which offers benefits compared to other sources due to their limited ex vivo expansion potential. Recent studies have indicated the capacity to expand functional NK cells from placenta-derived cells in vitro that possess anti-tumor cytolytic properties. This chapter discusses the isolation of full-term human placenta-derived NK cells using Good Manufacturing Practice-based methods for CAR-NK cell therapy in melanoma.

Changes in expression of Ki-67, CD16 and CD56 by natural killer cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the setting of recurrent miscarriage after in vitro culturing in the presence of trophoblast cells and IL-2

The aim of this research was to assess the proliferative activity of Natural Killer Cells (NK cells) from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) in the presence of trophoblast cells in women with a history of recurrent miscarriages. We examined the peripheral blood of women with recurrent miscarriage in the proliferative (n = 12) or secretory (n = 13) phase of their menstrual cycle, and pregnant women with a history of recurrent miscarriage at 6-7 weeks of their current pregnancy (n = 14). Controls were fertile non-pregnant women in the proliferative (n = 11) or secretory (n = 13) phase of their menstrual cycle, and pregnant women at 6-7 weeks of a physiologically normal pregnancy (n = 20). We used IL-2 as a factor maintaining PBMCs viability during long-term culturing. We established that culturing in the presence of IL-2 contributed to an increase in the number of CD56+CD16- NK cells and to a decrease in the number of CD56+CD16+ NK cells from PBMCs compared with these numbers before culturing in both healthy women and in women with recurrent miscarriage. After culturing of PBMCs in the presence of trophoblast cells and IL-2 (compared with culturing without trophoblast cells), the intensity of Ki-67 expression by NK cells was reduced in the whole NK cell population (CD3-CD56+), and in the CD56+CD16- and CD56+CD16+ populations of NK cells in women with recurrent miscarriage and in healthy controls. The intensity of CD56 expression was reduced in the presence of trophoblast cells and IL-2 in non-pregnant women with recurrent miscarriage in the secretory versus the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle.

Bidirectional regulation between 1st trimester HTR8/SVneo trophoblast cells and in vitro differentiated Th17/Treg cells suggest a fetal-maternal regulatory loop in human pregnancy

Problem

During normal pregnancy, delicate crosstalk is established between fetus‐derived trophoblasts and maternal immune cells to ensure maternal‐fetal tolerance and successful placentation. Dysfunction in these interactions has been highly linked to certain pregnancy complications.

Method of study

Naïve CD4⁺T cells were cultivated with or without 1st trimester derived trophoblast cell line HTR8/SVneo cells in the absence or presence of T helper 17 (Th17) or regulatory (Treg)cell‐inducing differentiation conditions. After 5 days of co‐culture, HTR8/SVneo cells and CD4⁺T cells were harvested and analyzed using flow cytometry.

Results

CD4⁺T cells exposed to HTR8/SVneo cells showed enhanced induction of CD4⁺Foxp3⁺Treg cells with strong expression of TGF‐β1 and inhibitory molecules (cytotoxic T lymphocyte‐associated protein‐4 [CTLA‐4], T‐cell immunoglobulin mucin‐3 [Tim‐3], and programmed cell death‐1 [PD‐1]). Though not effecting Th17 differentiation, exposure to HTR8/SVneo cells promoted increased expression of proliferative and apoptotic markers on Th17 cells. Co‐culture with Th0 cells, or differentiated Th17 or Treg cells, down‐regulated Caspase‐3 and MMP‐9 (but not MMP‐2) expression in HTR8/SVneo cells, while promoting Ki67 expression.

Conclusions

HTR8/SVneo cells regulated maternal CD4⁺T‐cell differentiation, resulting in the expansion of immunosuppressive Treg cells, while CD4⁺T cells might promote the growth, and control the invasiveness of HTR8/SVneo cells. Thus, a bidirectional regulatory loop might exist between trophoblasts and maternal immune cell subsets, thereby promoting harmonious maternal‐fetal crosstalk.

The role of decidual NK cells in pregnancies with impaired vascular remodelling

The pathologies of the dangerous pregnancy complications pre-eclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR) are established in the first trimester of human pregnancy yet we know little of how this happens. Finely tuned interactions between maternal and placental cells are essential for pregnancy to progress without complications; however, the precise nature of this cross-talk and how it can go wrong are crucial questions that remain to be answered. This review summarises recent studies examining the role played by natural killer cells in regulating normal placentation and remodelling. Their involvement when it is impaired in PE/FGR pregnancies will additionally be discussed.

Adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2) Regulates Mucin 1 at the Maternal-Fetal Interface in Human Pregnancy

Association of an altered expression of placental mucin 1 (MUC1) with first-trimester spontaneous abortion and its regulation in placenta by an invasion-promoting peptide, adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2), is not known. The objective of this study was to assess 1) the association of MUC1 mRNA expression in the placental villi and decidua with first-trimester spontaneous abortion, 2) the effects of ADM2 on the expression of MUC1 in trophoblast cells in the presence or absence of hypoxia, 3) the effects of ADM2 on expression of MUC1 in decidual stromal cells (DSCs), and 4) if ADM2 regulates the expression of MUC1 and MMP2 protein in trophoblastic spheroids. Data demonstrate that 1) expression of MUC1 mRNA in villous tissue is higher in spontaneous abortion compared to age-matched electively terminated pregnancies (P > 0.05), 2) ADM2 decreases the expression of MUC1 mRNA and protein in trophoblast cells and spheroids with concomitant increases in MMP2 immunoreactivity in the spheroids, 3) ADM2 decreases hypoxia-induced increases in MUC1 immunoreactivity in trophoblast cells, 4) decidual MUC1 mRNA expression is lower in spontaneous compared to elective abortions (P < 0.05), and 5) DSCs express MUC1 mRNA and protein and ADM2 decreases the expression of MUC1 mRNA and protein in DSCs. Taken together, this study demonstrates that first-trimester spontaneous abortion is associated with increases in MUC1 expression in villi and decreases in the decidual tissues, and suggests that ADM2 may contribute to the physiology of embryo implantation and placental growth via increasing MMP2 and decreasing MUC1 expression to facilitate trophoblast invasion.

Role of tumor-associated glycoprotein-72 in the progression of endometrial adenocarcinoma: a proposed study

Endometrial adenocarcinoma is on the basis of the molecular, immunohistological and clinicopathologic features broadly divided into two groups, referred as type I and type II. Type I appears more frequently and in principle patients have a good prognosis; however a significant number of patients develop local recurrences. We hypothesize that TAG-72, expressed on endometrial carcinoma binds and internalizes endocytic pattern recognition receptors on surrounding tissue antigen presenting cells (dendritic cells and macrophages), powers their anti-inflammatory maturation program and make them capable to elicit or modulated tolerogenic immune response mediated by local T and NK effectors. This could support uncontrolled local tumor growth, deeper tumor invasion into surrounding tissues, frequent local recurrences and/or lymph node metastasis. To test this hypothesis, we propose a semi-quantitative immunohistochemical analysis of TAG-72 expression in endometrial adenocarcinoma samples and to correlate the results with clinical and pathological parameters (age, type and histological grade of the tumor, estrogen and progesterone receptor expression, invasion into the myometrium and capillaries, presence of lymph node metastases, FIGO stage, and TNM classification). It would be worthwhile to investigate the local tissue immune response in the tumor environment using tissue samples removed during surgery. These studies could elucidate the underlying immunopathological mechanisms that govern the early recurrence and possibly distant metastases of TAG-72-expressing adenocarcinomas and might help in deciding the type of treatment to be applied in a selected group of cancer patients including application of biological therapy with anti-TAG-72 antibodies, according the principle of personalized oncology treatments.

M1/M2 macrophage polarity in normal and complicated pregnancy

Tissue macrophages play an important role in all stages of pregnancy, including uterine stromal remodeling (decidualization) before embryo implantation, parturition, and post-partum uterine involution. The activation state and function of utero-placental macrophages are largely dependent on the local tissue microenvironment. Thus, macrophages are involved in a variety of activities such as regulation of immune cell activities, placental cell invasion, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling. Disruption of the uterine microenvironment, particularly during the early stages of pregnancy (decidualization, implantation, and placentation) can have profound effects on macrophage activity and subsequently impact pregnancy outcome. In this review, we will provide an overview of the temporal and spatial regulation of utero-placental macrophage activation during normal pregnancy in human beings and rodents with a focus on more recent findings. We will also discuss the role of M1/M2 dysregulation within the intrauterine environment during adverse pregnancy outcomes.

The integrative roles of chemokines at the maternal-fetal interface in early pregnancy

Embryos express paternal antigens that are foreign to the mother, but the mother provides a special immune milieu at the fetal-maternal interface to permit rather than reject the embryo growth in the uterus until parturition by establishing precise crosstalk between the mother and the fetus. There are unanswered questions in the maintenance of pregnancy, including the poorly understood phenomenon of maternal tolerance to the allogeneic conceptus, and the remarkable biological roles of placental trophoblasts that invade the uterine wall. Chemokines are multifunctional molecules initially described as having a role in leukocyte trafficking and later found to participate in developmental processes such as differentiation and directed migration. It is increasingly evident that the gestational uterine microenvironment is characterized, at least in part, by the differential expression and secretion of chemokines that induce selective trafficking of leukocyte subsets to the maternal-fetal interface and regulate multiple events that are closely associated with normal pregnancy. Here, we review the expression and function of chemokines and their receptors at the maternal-fetal interface, with a special focus on chemokine as a key component in trophoblast invasiveness and placental angiogenesis, recruitment and instruction of immune cells so as to form a fetus-supporting milieu during pregnancy. The chemokine network is also involved in pregnancy complications.

Immunological modes of pregnancy loss: inflammation, immune effectors, and stress

Inflammatory immune response plays a key role in reproductive failures such as multiple implantation failures (MIF), early pregnancy loss, and recurrent pregnancy losses (RPL). Cellular immune responses particularly mediated by natural killer (NK), and T cells are often dysregulated in these conditions. Excessive or inappropriate recruitment of peripheral blood NK cells to the uterus may lead to cytotoxic environment in utero, in which proliferation and differentiation of trophoblast is hampered. In addition, inadequate angiogenesis by uterine NK cells often leads to abnormal vascular development and blood flow patterns, which, in turn, leads to increased oxidative stress or ischemic changes in the invading trophoblast. T-cell abnormalities with increased Th1 and Th17 immunity, and decreased Th2 and T regulatory immune responses may play important roles in RPL and MIF. A possible role of stress in inflammatory immune response is also reviewed.

Mucins help to avoid alloreactivity at the maternal fetal interface

During gestation, many different mechanisms act to render the maternal immune system tolerant to semi-allogeneic trophoblast cells of foetal origin, including those mediated via mucins that are expressed during the peri-implantation period in the uterus. Tumour- associated glycoprotein-72 (TAG-72) enhances the already established tolerogenic features of decidual dendritic cells with the inability to progress towards Th1 immune orientation due to lowered interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-15 expression. Mucine 1 (Muc 1) supports alternative activation of decidual macrophages, restricts the proliferation of decidual regulatory CD56⁺ bright natural killer (NK) cells, and downregulates their cytotoxic potential, including cytotoxic mediator protein expression. Removing TAG-72 and Muc 1 from the eutopic implantation site likely contributes to better control of trophoblast invasion by T cells and NK cells and appears to have important immunologic advantages for successful implantation, in addition to mechanical advantages. However, these processes may lead to uncontrolled trophoblast growth after implantation, inefficient defence against infection or tumours, and elimination of unwanted immunocompetent cells at the maternal-foetal interface. The use of mucins by tumour cells to affect the local microenvironment in order to avoid the host immune response and to promote local tumour growth, invasion, and metastasis confirms this postulation.