AI Article Synopsis
- Human decidual natural killer (dNK) cells express a protein called granulysin (GNLY), which helps protect against infections like Listeria monocytogenes without harming the fetal cells.
- dNK cells use tiny structures called nanotubes to transfer GNLY to trophoblasts, successfully killing Listeria while preserving the trophoblasts' integrity.
- In experiments with GNLY-transgenic mice, researchers found that pregnancy success improved and there were lower rates of Listeria infection, suggesting a broader immune defense mechanism involving both dNK cells and peripheral NK cells.
Article Abstract
Maternal decidual NK (dNK) cells promote placentation, but how they protect against placental infection while maintaining fetal tolerance is unclear. Here we show that human dNK cells highly express the antimicrobial peptide granulysin (GNLY) and selectively transfer it via nanotubes to extravillous trophoblasts to kill intracellular Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) without killing the trophoblast. Transfer of GNLY, but not other cell death-inducing cytotoxic granule proteins, strongly inhibits Lm in human placental cultures and in mouse and human trophoblast cell lines. Placental and fetal Lm loads are lower and pregnancy success is greatly improved in pregnant Lm-infected GNLY-transgenic mice than in wild-type mice that lack GNLY. This immune defense is not restricted to pregnancy; peripheral NK (pNK) cells also transfer GNLY to kill bacteria in macrophages and dendritic cells without killing the host cell. Nanotube transfer of GNLY allows dNK to protect against infection while leaving the maternal-fetal barrier intact.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7484179 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.019 | DOI Listing |
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