title: The regular distribution and expression pattern of immunosuppressive cytokine IL-35 in mouse uterus during early pregnancy.
abstract: Cytokines within the uterus are critical in the maternal-fetal immune regulation. Immunosuppressive cytokine IL-35 was recently discovered inhibitory cytokine, which were pivotal in the establishment of immune tolerance against self-antigens and antigens encountered in foreign implantation. In order to analyze the role of IL-35 in maternal-fetal immune tolerance, the expression patterns of IL-35 in mouse endometrium were studied during early pregnancy by immunohistochemistry, ELISA and quantitative real-time PCR. As results, we found that IL-35 positive cells in the uterus showed significant distribution difference after fetal implantation, which mainly distributed in luminal epithelium and glandular epithelium of mouse uterus from gestational day 1 to 2, and glandular epithelium and stroma from gestational day 4 to 7. The number of positive cells, immunoreactive scores, protein and mRNA expression of IL-35 showed firstly increased and then decreased with the increase of pregnancy day. The largest contents of IL-35 in the uterus were detected on gestational day 4. Compared with non-pregnant mice, pregnant mice showed the significantly increased mRNA expression of Ebi3 (Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 3, IL-35 subunit) in the endometrium on gestational day 2 and the highest level of expression on gestational day 4. The mRNA expression of p35 (IL-35 subunit) was significantly lower than that of Ebi3 gene and showed the inconsistent change from gestational day 5 to 7. However, the significant correlation existed between the immunohistochemical expression, contents and mRNA expression of IL-35. These results indicated that IL-35 contributed to the establishment and maintenance of maternal-fetal tolerance during early pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang County, Anhui, China; lish@ahstu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Erhui
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Chenfang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Shenghe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D011247:Pregnancy; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012015:Reference Standards; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C499601:Ebi3 protein, mouse; D007378:Interleukins; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine; C569375:interleukin-35, mouse