title: Increased expression of Toll-like receptor 3 in decidual natural killer cells of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous miscarriage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether the expression of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in decidual natural killer (dNK) cells plays a role in the pathogenesis of unexplained recurrent spontaneous miscarriage (URSM).
  
  
  METHODS
  NK cells were isolated from human decidual tissue through magnetic cell sorting and analyzed for phenotypes through flow cytometry. TLR3 expression in dNK cells was detected by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The cytotoxicity of dNK was detected using a lactate dehydrogenase release test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CD56(+) dNK percentages varied between 85% and 96%. The expression of TLR3 mRNA and protein in dNK cells of URSM patients was statistically significantly higher than that in control women (p=0.005 and p=0.01, respectively). Meanwhile, the mean cytotoxicity percentage of freshly isolated dNK cells from the patients was significantly higher than that from normal controls (31.24 ± 7.46% vs. 16.20 ± 6.03%; p=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of TLR3 in dNK cells is abnormally higher in URSM patients, which indicates that TLR3 expression may be critical to the activation of dNK cells infiltrating the maternal-fetal interface and account for the loss of immune tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Shi Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shuai
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D003656:Decidua / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051196:Toll-Like Receptor 3 / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: C495344:TLR3 protein, human; D051196:Toll-Like Receptor 3