Endometrial Stem Cells: Cinderella of Endometrial Immune Network

Almost five hundred million years ago, the modern immune systemwas developed. This system had to be finely tuned and controlled sothat it did not react with self-antigens leading to autoimmunity andat the same time was to be able to recognize and take action againstnon-self-antigens. The self/non-self (SNS) discrimination capacity of theimmune system was a big challenge during development in millions ofyears which finally was solved in a way that self-reactive B and T cellclones are eliminated or remained in an anergic state during lymphocytedevelopment and those reacting only with non-self molecules aredeveloped. With SNS discrimination capacity of the immune system,most mammals encountered with another big problem: how theyshould manage pregnancy in which a non-self embryo is implantedin the uterus This evolutionary challenge was also solved during thedevelopment of endometrial immune regulatory network throughextensive modification of immune system at feto-maternal interface.There are a plenty of orchestrated mechanisms working in concert leadingto maternal immune tolerance against developing an embryo. Duringthe past couple of years, we have extensively studied and characterizedmenstrual blood stem cells (MenSCs), as a potential surrogate of eMSCs,in term of their immunomodulatory capacity. Based on our results, thesestem cells profoundly modulate functional features of endometrial cellsincluding dendritic cells, NK cells, Th17 and regulatory T cells andinduce a pregnancy-friendly phenotype. Our data clearly imply thatendometrial stromal cells may contribute to the induction of tolerogenicmicroenvironment during early pregnancy. In this regard, impairment ofthe function of endometrial stromal cells as the instructor of endometrialimmune cells may lead to pregnancy-related disorders.

کلیدواژه ها:

Endometrial stem cells ، Immune regulation ، NK cells ، Regulatory T cells