title: Mechanisms of T cell tolerance towards the allogeneic fetus.
abstract: Work on the mechanisms of fetomaternal tolerance has undergone a renaissance in recent years, and the general outlines of a solution to this long-standing paradox of 'transplantation' immunology have come into view. Here, we discuss several mechanisms, recently described in mice, that either minimize the activation of maternal T cells with fetal or placental specificity, or minimize the possibility that such T cells, if activated, are able to harm the fetus. The T cell response to antigens expressed by the conceptus serves as a paradigm for the study of tissue-specific immune tolerance and is relevant to the pathogenesis of immune-mediated pregnancy complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and NYU Cancer Institute, NYU School of Medicine, Langone Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, New York 10016, USA. adrian.erlebacher@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erlebacher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D054502:Histocompatibility, Maternal-Fetal / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007519:Isoantigens; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011247:Pregnancy; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology; D014599:Uterus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007519:Isoantigens