The H-Y response in mid-gestation and long after delivery in mice primed before pregnancy.
The mechanisms underlying maternal tolerance of the semi-allogeneic fetus are not completely understood. The maternal immune system's response to the male antigen, H-Y is an example of the conflicting evidence that both supports and refutes the idea that the immune system in pregnant females is fundamentally different from that in non-pregnant females. Although multiple pregnancies may inactivate H-Y specific T cells, the immune system of the pregnant female can also generate a cytotoxic response to this antigen. To help understand this apparent conflict, we immunized female mice against H-Y with male spleen cells before pregnancy and examined the subsequent anti H-Y response during mid-pregnancy. The pregnant mice studied were able to mount cytotoxic immune responses to H-Y that were equivalent to those generated in their non-pregnant counterparts. Moreover the experience of pregnancy did not impair the ability to maintain immunologic memory to H-Y. The data support the idea that pregnancy does not violate general rules of antigen specific immunity, even if the antigen is expressed on the fetus.
Bonney
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EA
Gynecology, Immunology and Infectious Disease Laboratory, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. ebonney@zoo.uvm.edu
Onyekwuluje
J
J
D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006182:H-Y Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000276:immunology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
D006182:H-Y Antigen