AUTHOR=van der Zwan Anita , van Unen Vincent , Beyrend Guillaume , Laban Sandra , van der Keur Carin , Kapsenberg Hanneke J. M. , Höllt Thomas , Chuva de Sousa Lopes Susana M. , van der Hoorn Marie-Louise P. , Koning Frits , Claas Frans H. J. , Eikmans Michael , Heidt Sebastiaan TITLE=Visualizing Dynamic Changes at the Maternal-Fetal Interface Throughout Human Pregnancy by Mass Cytometry JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.571300 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.571300 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

During healthy pregnancy, a balanced microenvironment at the maternal-fetal interface with coordinated interaction between various immune cells is necessary to maintain immunological tolerance. While specific decidual immune cell subsets have been investigated, a system-wide unbiased approach is lacking. Here, mass cytometry was applied for data-driven, in-depth immune profiling of the total leukocyte population isolated from first, second, and third trimester decidua, as well as maternal peripheral blood at time of delivery. The maternal-fetal interface showed a unique composition of immune cells, different from peripheral blood, with significant differences between early and term pregnancy samples. Profiling revealed substantial heterogeneity in the decidual lymphoid and myeloid cell lineages that shape gestational-specific immune networks and putative differentiation trajectories over time during gestation. Uncovering the overall complexity at the maternal-fetal interface throughout pregnancy resulted in a human atlas that may serve as a foundation upon which comprehension of the immune microenvironment and alterations thereof in pregnancy complications can be built.