engleski

Characterization of ectopic pregnancy NK cells

Problem: Characteristics of CD56+ cells in Fallopian tube ectopic pregnancy from tubal mucosa at and away from the implantation site and from uterine decidua of the same women were investigated. Materials and methods: CD56+ cells were labelled by immunohistology in frozen mucosal sections. Mononuclear cells obtained after enzymatic digestion and gradient centrifugation were assessed for surface markers and intracellular cytolytic mediator expression by flow cytometry. Results: CD16-CD56 ++ bright cells predominate in uterine decidua in comparison to tubal mucosa, where low percentages of CD16-CD56 +dim cells were present. Uterine mucosal NK cells express higher percentages of perforin, but lower percentages of TRAIL in comparison to tubal mucosal NK cells. Granulysin was distributed basicaly the same in all NK subpopulations. NK receptors: CD94, NKG2A, NKG2C, NKG2D, CD160, NKp46, NKp44 and NKp30 were present in each NK cell subpoplation investigated. Preliminary data indicated that CD56+ cells at the implantation site express less NKp46, whereas more NKp30 receptors in comparison to uterine mucosal NK cells. Conclusion: The difference in cytolytic mediators and NK cell receptors expression among CD56+ cells from tubal and uterine mucosa in ectopic pregnancy could indicate their different functional activity. Acknowledgement: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided for this study by the Croatian Ministry of Science (Grants No. 0620402-0379 and 0376) and the EMBIC project, European FP6, NoE, LSHM-CT-2004-512040.

Ectopic pregnancy; NK cells; CD56+

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