Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03-2020, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-1091, USA.
Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03-2020, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-1091, USA.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2019 Jun;95:96-100. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2019.02.005. Epub 2019 Feb 12.
Milk provides mammalian neonates with nutritional support and passive immunity. This is particularly true in marsupials where young are born highly altricial and lacking many components of a fully functional adaptive immune system. Here we investigated the T cell populations in the mammaries of a lactating marsupial, the gray short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of T cells within the opossum mammaries throughout lactation. Results of quantifying transcript abundance for lymphocyte markers are consistent with γδ T cells being the most common T cell type within lactating mammaries. Numbers of γδ T cells appear to peak early during the first postnatal week, and then decline throughout lactation until weaning. In contrast, numbers of αβ T cells and γμ T cells appear to be low to non-existent in the lactating mammaries. The results support an ancient and conserved role of immune cells in the evolution and function of mammalian mammary tissue.
牛奶为哺乳动物的新生儿提供营养支持和被动免疫。在有袋动物中，这种情况尤其如此，因为幼崽出生时非常不成熟，缺乏完全成熟的适应性免疫系统的许多成分。在这里，我们研究了哺乳期有袋动物——短尾矮袋鼠（Monodelphis domestica）的乳腺中的 T 细胞群体。免疫组织化学证实，T 细胞存在于整个哺乳期的负鼠乳腺中。淋巴细胞标志物转录丰度的定量结果表明，γδ T 细胞是哺乳期乳腺中最常见的 T 细胞类型。γδ T 细胞的数量似乎在出生后的第一周内早期达到峰值，然后在整个哺乳期下降，直到断奶。相比之下，αβ T 细胞和 γμ T 细胞的数量在哺乳期乳腺中似乎很低或不存在。研究结果支持免疫细胞在哺乳动物乳腺组织的进化和功能中的古老而保守的作用。
