VIP-contribution to the induction and recruitment of regulatory T cells in an in vitro model of maternal-placental interaction

L. FRACCAROLI; E. GRASSO; V. HAUK; G. MOR; C. PÉREZ LEIRÓS; R. RAMHORST

Congreso; 3rd Latin-American Symposium of Reproductive Immunology and 1st Meeting of the Latin American Chapter of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology; 2011

Introduction During pregnancy, regulatory T cells (Treg) are crucial to control the pro-inflammatory immune response. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) modulates the immune response to a tolerogenic profile and we have recently shown that VIP is synthesized and secreted by trophoblast cells. The aim of this work is to evaluate the contribution of VIP in the differentiation and recruitment of iTreg cells toward the maternal-placental interface. Materials and Methods Fertile women PBMC and trophoblast cells (Swan-71 cell line) were co-cultured and iTreg frequency and cytokines expression were measured by FACS analysis after 48h. Co-cultured PBMCs were used for suppression assays and T cell proliferation was measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation. Migration assays were performed to evaluate recruitment of differentiated iTreg cells towards Swan-71. Results VIP (10-7M) significatively increased the frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells in co-cultures, this effect was prevented by its antagonist (P