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4307 Role of Pre-pregnancy Uterine Natural Killer Cells in Human Embryo Implantation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2020

Jessica Kanter
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Sneha Mani
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Scott Gordon
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Monica Mainigi
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
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Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Human placentation requires complex coordination between maternal and fetal cell types but remains incompletely understood. We hypothesize that uterine natural killer (uNK) cells, an immune cell type that increases in abundance during the implantation window, is essential for appropriate implantation and placentation. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We plan to examine stromal cell (SC) decidualization, spiral artery remodeling, and EVT invasion, processes vital for early pregnancy establishment, in the presence or absence of secretory phase uNK cells. Fetal extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs) will be isolated from first trimester pregnancy tissue; maternal SCs, endothelial cells (ECs) and uNK cells will be obtained from secretory phase uterine tissue. SCs will be placed in monoculture and coculture with uNK cells and prolactin will be measured to evaluate decidualization. To study EVT invasion, we will utilize our novel “implantation-on-a-chip” device to determine how addition of uNK cells affects EVT migration through a collagen-matrigel matrix. In this system, we will also examine spiral artery remodeling with or without uNK cells via TUNEL staining. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We anticipate that uNK cell addition to SCs will lead to a significant increase in SC prolactin levels, suggesting a role of uNK cells in endometrial decidualization. In vitro, we expect the addition of uNK cells will increase EC apoptosis and promote EVT invasion. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Although decidual NK cells are known to participate in placentation, the role of pre-pregnancy uNK cells is unknown. uNK cell involvement in processes important for the earliest stages of pregnancy would provide a potential marker for abnormal placentation and offer avenues for intervention to decrease placentation associated perinatal morbidity.

Type
Mechanistic Basic to Clinical
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Association for Clinical and Translational Science 2020