Rheumatology Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States.
Front Immunol. 2020 Feb 21;11:290. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00290. eCollection 2020.
Natural killer (NK) cells are the most abundant lymphocytes at the maternal-fetal interface. Epidemiological data implicate NK cells in human pregnancy outcomes. Discoveries using mouse NK cells have guided subsequent advances in human NK cell biology. However, it remains challenging to identify mouse and human uterine NK (uNK) cell function(s) because of the dynamic changes in the systemic-endocrinological and local uterine structural microenvironments during pregnancy. This review discusses functional similarities and differences between mouse and human NK cells at the maternal-fetal interface.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是母胎界面上最丰富的淋巴细胞。流行病学数据表明 NK 细胞与人类妊娠结局有关。使用小鼠 NK 细胞的发现指导了随后人类 NK 细胞生物学的进展。然而,由于怀孕期间全身内分泌和局部子宫结构微环境的动态变化,仍然难以确定小鼠和人类子宫 NK(uNK) 细胞的功能。本文讨论了母胎界面小鼠和人类 NK 细胞的功能相似性和差异性。