Division of Experimental Feto-Maternal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52 - 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Semin Immunopathol. 2022 Nov;44(6):785-799. doi: 10.1007/s00281-022-00934-8. Epub 2022 Apr 29.
The conception of how the immune system is organized has been significantly challenged over the last years. It became evident that not all lymphocytes are mobile and recirculate through secondary lymphoid organs. Instead, subsets of immune cells continuously reside in tissues until being reactivated, e.g., by a recurring pathogen or other stimuli. Consequently, the concept of tissue-resident immunity has emerged, and substantial evidence is now available to support its pivotal function in maintaining tissue homeostasis, sensing challenges and providing antimicrobial protection. Surprisingly, insights on tissue-resident immunity in the barrier tissues of the female reproductive tract are sparse and only slowly emerging. The need for protection from vaginal and amniotic infections, the uniqueness of periodic tissue shedding and renewal of the endometrial barrier tissue, and the demand for a tailored decidual immune adaptation during pregnancy highlight that tissue-resident immunity may play a crucial role in distinct compartments of the female reproductive tract. This review accentuates the characteristics of tissue-resident immune cells in the vagina, endometrium, and the decidua during pregnancy and discusses their functional role in modulating the risk for infertility, pregnancy complications, infections, or cancer. We here also review data published to date on tissue-resident immunity in the male reproductive organs, which is still a largely uncharted territory.
近年来，人们对免疫系统的组织方式的认识受到了重大挑战。人们已经意识到，并非所有淋巴细胞都是可移动的，并且可以在次级淋巴器官中循环。相反，免疫细胞的亚群会持续存在于组织中，直到被重新激活，例如，受到反复出现的病原体或其他刺激物的激活。因此，组织驻留免疫的概念已经出现，并且现在有大量证据支持其在维持组织内稳态、感知挑战和提供抗菌保护方面的关键作用。令人惊讶的是，关于女性生殖道屏障组织中组织驻留免疫的见解仍然很少，并且正在缓慢出现。需要保护阴道和羊膜免受感染，周期性组织脱落和子宫内膜屏障组织更新的独特性，以及在怀孕期间对蜕膜免疫适应的特殊需求，都表明组织驻留免疫可能在女性生殖道的不同部位发挥关键作用。这篇综述强调了怀孕期间阴道、子宫内膜和蜕膜中组织驻留免疫细胞的特征，并讨论了它们在调节不孕、妊娠并发症、感染或癌症风险方面的功能作用。我们还回顾了迄今为止关于男性生殖器官中组织驻留免疫的发表数据，这仍然是一个很大程度上未被探索的领域。
