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Graf I, Urbschat C, Arck PC. The 'communicatome' of pregnancy: spotlight on cellular and extravesicular chimerism. EMBO Mol Med 2024; 16:700-714. [PMID: 38467841 PMCID: PMC11018796 DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00045-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Communication via biological mediators between mother and fetus are key to reproductive success and offspring's future health. The repertoire of mediators coding signals between mother and fetus is broad and includes soluble factors, membrane-bound particles and immune as well as non-immune cells. Based on the emergence of technological advancements over the last years, considerable progress has been made toward deciphering the "communicatome" between fetus and mother during pregnancy and even after birth. In this context, pregnancy-associated chimerism has sparked the attention among immunologists, since chimeric cells-although low in number-are maintained in the allogeneic host (mother or fetus) for years after birth. Other non-cellular structures of chimerism, e.g. extracellular vesicles (EVs), are increasingly recognized as modulators of pregnancy outcome and offspring's health. We here discuss the origin, distribution and function of pregnancy-acquired microchimerism and chimeric EVs in mother and offspring. We also highlight the pioneering concept of maternal microchimeric cell-derived EVs in offspring. Such insights expand the understanding of pregnancy-associated health or disease risks in mother and offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Graf
- Division of Experimental Feto-Maternal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christopher Urbschat
- Division of Experimental Feto-Maternal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Petra C Arck
- Division of Experimental Feto-Maternal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
- Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
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Morales-Prieto DM, Wieditz K, Götze J, Pastuschek J, Weber M, Göhner C, Groten T, Markert UR. Transplacental migration of maternal natural killer and T cells assessed by ex vivo human placenta perfusion. Placenta 2024; 146:42-49. [PMID: 38169218 DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2023.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The transplacental passage of cells between a mother and her fetus, known as microchimerism, is a less studied process during pregnancy. The frequency of maternal microchimeric cells in fetal tissues in physiological pregnancies and mechanisms responsible for transplacental cell trafficking are poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the placental trafficking of maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) using human ex vivo placenta perfusion. METHODS Ten placentas and maternal PBMC were obtained after healthy pregnancies. Flow cytometry was used to characterize PBMC subtypes. They showed a higher percentage of CD3+ T cells compared to CD56+ NK cells. The isolated PBMC were stained with a fluorescent dye and perfused through the maternal circuit of the placenta in an ex vivo perfusion system. Subsequent immunofluorescence staining for CD3+ T cells and CD56+ NK cells was performed on placental tissue sections, and the number of detectable PBMC in different tissue areas was counted using fluorescence microscopy. RESULTS The applied method allowed discrimination of perfused autologous maternal cells from cells resident in the placenta before perfusion. Further, it allows additional immunohistochemical labelling and distinction of immune cell subsets. Perfused PBMC were detected in all analyzed placentas, mostly in contact to the syncytiotrophoblast. CD3+ T cells were identified more frequently than CD56+ NK cells and some CD3+ T cells were found inside fetoplacental tissues and vasculature. The results indicate that also other PBMCs than T or NK cells adhere to or enter villous tissue, but they have not been specified in this analysis. DISCUSSION Previous studies have detected maternal cells in the fetal circulation which we could mimick in our ex vivo placenta perfusion experiments with fluorescence labelled autologous maternal PBMC. The applied experimental settings did not allow comparison of transmigration abilities of PBMC subsets, but slight modifications of the model will permit further studies of cell transfer processes and microchimerism in pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana M Morales-Prieto
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Kathrin Wieditz
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Juliane Götze
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Jana Pastuschek
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Maja Weber
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Claudia Göhner
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Tanja Groten
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany
| | - Udo R Markert
- Placenta Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany.
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Shao TY, Kinder JM, Harper G, Pham G, Peng Y, Liu J, Gregory EJ, Sherman BE, Wu Y, Iten AE, Hu YC, Russi AE, Erickson JJ, Miller-Handley H, Way SS. Reproductive outcomes after pregnancy-induced displacement of preexisting microchimeric cells. Science 2023; 381:1324-1330. [PMID: 37733857 PMCID: PMC10877202 DOI: 10.1126/science.adf9325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Pregnancy confers partner-specific protection against complications in future pregnancy that parallel persistence of fetal microchimeric cells (FMcs) in mothers after parturition. We show that preexisting FMcs become displaced by new FMcs during pregnancy and that FMc tonic stimulation is essential for expansion of protective fetal-specific forkhead box P3 (FOXP3)-positive regulatory T cells (Treg cells). Maternal microchimeric cells and accumulation of Treg cells with noninherited maternal antigen (NIMA) specificity are similarly overturned in daughters after pregnancy, highlighting a fixed microchimeric cell niche. Whereas NIMA-specific tolerance is functionally erased by pregnancy, partner-specific resiliency against pregnancy complications persists in mothers despite paternity changes in intervening pregnancy. Persistent fetal tolerance reflects FOXP3 expression plasticity, which allows mothers to more durably remember their babies, whereas daughters forget their mothers with new pregnancy-imprinted immunological memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Yu Shao
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Jeremy M. Kinder
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Gavin Harper
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Giang Pham
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Yanyan Peng
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - James Liu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Emily J. Gregory
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Bryan E. Sherman
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Yuehong Wu
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Alexandra E. Iten
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Yueh-Chiang Hu
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Abigail E. Russi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Advanced Nutrition, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - John J. Erickson
- Division of Neonatology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Hilary Miller-Handley
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Sing Sing Way
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
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Borges A, Castellan F, Irie N. Emergent roles of maternal microchimerism in postnatal development. Dev Growth Differ 2023; 65:75-81. [PMID: 36519824 DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Maternal microchimerism (MMc) is the phenomenon that a low number of cells from the mother persists within her progeny. Despite their regular presence in mammalian pregnancies, the overall cell type repertoire and roles of maternal cells, especially after birth, remain unclear. By using transgenic mouse strains and human umbilical blood samples, recent studies have for the first time characterized and quantified MMc cell type repertoires in offspring, identified the cross-generational influence on fetal immunity, and determined possible factors that affect their presence in offspring. This review summarizes new findings, especially on the maternal cell type repertoires and their potential role in utero, in postnatal life, and long after birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria Borges
- Graduate School of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Flore Castellan
- Graduate School of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naoki Irie
- Graduate School of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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