Teaching tolerance: Diverse cellular interactions enable healthy maturation

The fetal immune system is distinguishable from the adult immune system by a higher degree of tolerance to foreign antigens. This tolerance is important for fetal development within the ‘foreign’ maternal environment, and during birth when barrier surfaces are first colonized by microbiota. Immune r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Immunology 2021-07, Vol.163 (3), p.237-238
Main Authors: Frede, Annika, Milling, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies
Antigens
Autoimmune diseases
Blood
Cord blood
Fetuses
Homeostasis
Immune response
Immune system
Immunological tolerance
Leukocytes (mononuclear)
Microbiota
monocytes
Neonates
perinatal tolerance
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
Tolerance
Tregs
Umbilical cord
umbilical cord blood
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Summary:The fetal immune system is distinguishable from the adult immune system by a higher degree of tolerance to foreign antigens. This tolerance is important for fetal development within the ‘foreign’ maternal environment, and during birth when barrier surfaces are first colonized by microbiota. Immune responses against the wave of newly colonizing microbiota would cause massive damage to barrier tissues, so neonates need suppressed immune responses and instead rely on maternal antibodies for protection. It is becoming clear that the early‐life establishment of tolerance could impact immune homeostasis and predisposition to autoimmune diseases throughout life. However, it is not well understood how and when perinatal tolerogenic immune responses switch towards adult‐like effector immune responses. Here, we present a new report on the differences between cells from perinatal umbilical cord blood (UCB) and adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), which give mechanistic insights into fetal tolerogenic responses.
ISSN:0019-2805
1365-2567
DOI:10.1111/imm.13381