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Human Reproduction, Vol. 8, No. 12, pp. 2061-2067, 1993
© 1993 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

review-article

Immunology: Expression of perforin, granzyme A and TIA-1 by human uterine CD56+ NK cells implies they are activated and capable of effector functions

Ashley King1, Peter Wooding2, Lucy Gardner and Yung Wai Loke

Research Group in Human Reproductive Immunobiology, Department of Pathology Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP 2Institute of Animal Physiology & Genetics Research, Cambridge Research Station Babraham Hall, Cambridge CB2 4AT, UK

Correspondence: 1To whom correspondence should be addressed

At the time the human placenta is established, the uterine mucosal lining (decidua) is infiltrated by abundant CD3– CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells circulating in blood are known to contain perforin and granzyme A in their cytoplasmic granules. TIA-1, an RNA-binding protein capable of inducing DNA fragmentation, has also been found in the granules of cytolytic cells. In this paper, we demonstrate the presence of perforin, granzyme A and TIA-1 in the granules of uterine NK cells. Sixteen sections of non-pregnant endometrium throughout the menstual cycle and six sections of early decidua, together with cytospins of four preparations of isolated decidual leukocytes were stained by both immuno-histology and immuno-electron microscopy to localize perforin, granzyme A and TIA-1 to the cytoplasmic granules of CD56+ cells. The presence in vivo of these cytolytic molecules in a normal physiological situation implies that these uterine NK cells may have effector functions in the control of normal placentation.

Key words: decidua/granzyme A/NK cells/perforin


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