TLR3-Involved Modulation of Pregnancy Tolerance in Double-Stranded RNA-Stimulated NOD/SCID Mice

Abstract

This study aims to extend understanding of the relationship between TLR3-involved cell signaling and dsRNA-induced embryo resorption. Upon stimulation of dsRNA, the resorption rate of embryos was boosted dramatically in syngeneic mating BALB/c mice, but not significantly influenced in syngeneic mating NOD/SCID mice. Accordingly, there was an enhanced cell surface expression of TLR3 on placental CD45⁺ cells derived from BALB/c mice, concomitant with both increased percentages of CD45⁺CD80⁺ cells and CD8α⁺CD80⁺ cells in flow cytometric analysis. In addition, both increased IL-2 and decreased IL-10 expression could be observed in CD45⁺ cell group in the intracellular detection by flow cytometry. In contrast, no such trends were observed in NOD/SCID model, and its resorption rate of embryos was kept at a low level throughout pregnancy. Neutralizing Abs against TLR3 could abrogate the embryo rejection induced by dsRNA in BALB/c mice, and simultaneously could reduce the CD80⁺ percentage in the CD45⁺ cell group. These results indicate that the interaction between dsRNA and TLR3 may be involved in the mobilization of CD45⁺CD80⁺ and CD8α⁺CD80⁺ cells, followed by the up-regulation of IL-2 and down-regulation of IL-10 expression at the feto-maternal interface, and finally resulting in embryo rejection. The relatively low responsiveness of NOD/SCID mice may be one of the reasons why these mice appeared to be resistant to dsRNA-induced embryo resorption.