title: Dendritic cells: key to fetal tolerance?
abstract: Pregnancy is a unique event in which a fetus, despite being genetically and immunologically different from the mother (a hemi-allograft), develops in the uterus. Successful pregnancy implies avoidance of rejection by the maternal immune system. Fetal and maternal immune cells come into direct contact at the decidua, which is a highly specialized mucous membrane that plays a key role in fetal tolerance. Uterine dendritic cells (DC) within the decidua have been implicated in pregnancy maintenance. DC serve as antigen-presenting cells with the unique ability to induce primary immune responses. Just as lymphocytes comprise different subsets, DC subsets have been identified that differentially control lymphocyte function. DC may also act to induce immunologic tolerance and regulation of T cell-mediated immunity. Current understanding of DC immunobiology within the context of mammalian fetal-maternal tolerance is reviewed and discussed herein.
authors.affiliation: University Medicine of Berlin, Charité Centrum 12, Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Campus Virchow, 13353 Berlin, Germany. sandra.blois@charite.de
authors.forename: Sandra M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Blois
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kammerer
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alba Soto
authors.forename: Mareike C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tometten
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shaikly
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barrientos
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jurd
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rukavina
authors.forename: Angus W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: Burghard F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Klapp
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Petra C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Arck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003656:Decidua / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones