engleski

Granulysin gene expression in decidual mononuclear cells in early pregnancy

Problem: Granulysin participates in cytolytic functions of cytotoxic lymphocytes and co-localises with perforin and granzymes in the cytotoxic granules. The main focus of our study was to investigate the levels of granulysin gene expression in leukocyte subpopulations infiltrating first trimester pregnancy decidua. Materials and Methods: Decidual mononuclear cells were separated by cell sorting or magnetically after an 18-hour culture at 37°C. Total RNA was isolated using Trizol (Invitrogen). Granulysin mRNA was detected by quantitative RT-PCR using Taqman probes (AB 7300 Real-Time PCR system). Results: Preliminary quantitative RT-PCR results indicate that granulysin mRNA is strongly expressed in cytolytic cells (CD56+ NK cells and CD3+ T-lymphocytes). Moreover, granulysin mRNA was also detected in CD14+ macrophages and CD1a+ dendritic cells. Conclusions: In light of recent literature showing that decidual macrophages and dendritic cells regulate perforin expression in cytolytic lymphocytes, our current findings raise the possibility of these cells playing a similar functional role (cytotoxicity) via granulysin, at the maternal-foetal interface. Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided for this study by the Croatian Ministry of Science (Grant No. 0620402-0376) and the EMBIC project, European FP6, NoE, LSHM-CT-2004-512040.

Granulysin; decidua; pregnancy

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