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Science 336 (6086): 1317-1321

Copyright © 2012 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Chemokine Gene Silencing in Decidual Stromal Cells Limits T Cell Access to the Maternal-Fetal Interface

Patrice Nancy,1 Elisa Tagliani,1 Chin-Siean Tay,1 Patrik Asp,2,* David E. Levy,1,2 Adrian Erlebacher1,2,{dagger}

Abstract: The chemokine-mediated recruitment of effector T cells to sites of inflammation is a central feature of the immune response. The extent to which chemokine expression levels are limited by the intrinsic developmental characteristics of a tissue has remained unexplored. We show in mice that effector T cells cannot accumulate within the decidua, the specialized stromal tissue encapsulating the fetus and placenta. Impaired accumulation was in part attributable to the epigenetic silencing of key T cell–attracting inflammatory chemokine genes in decidual stromal cells, as evidenced by promoter accrual of repressive histone marks. These findings give insight into mechanisms of fetomaternal immune tolerance, as well as reveal the epigenetic modification of tissue stromal cells as a modality for limiting effector T cell trafficking.

1 Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
2 New York University Cancer Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.

* Present address: Liver Transplant Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: adrian.erlebacher{at}nyumc.org

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Placenta in Toxicology. Part II: Systemic and Local Immune Adaptations in Pregnancy.
J. Svensson-Arvelund, J. Ernerudh, E. Buse, J. M. Cline, J.-D. Haeger, D. Dixon, U. R. Markert, C. Pfarrer, P. D. Vos, and M. M. Faas (2013)
Toxicol Pathol
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