immunoBLOGulin

Historically, the male has been charged with the responsibility of providing shelter for his family. That's a little bit difficult before a baby is born, however, since – by definition – the womb can be considered – without being too facetious, mom's domain. But dad's always ready to give advice about building materials. MHC is from Mars, uNK is from Venus. It turns out that paternal MHC – major histocompatibility complex – cells in the placenta communicate with uterine NK – natural killer – cells. While NK cells circulating in the blood are responsible for fighting off infections, a specialized uterine subgroup of these cells uNK cells (you guessed it – uterine natural killer cells) seems to play a key role in controlling the environment of the maternal-fetal interface, although their origin and precise roles are still unknown. Father Knows Best? Zofia Madeja, et al. have, however, found a mechanism whereby certain combinations of genes can lead to miscarriage and other pregnancy complications. It turns out that the MHC cells, mentioned above, lecture the uNK cells about how to optimize circulation in the placenta. Their findings are published in the article "Paternal MHC expression on mouse trophoblast affects uterine vascularization and fetal growth". It is unclear, whether it is the paternal MHC, or the maternal uNK cells that decide whether or not to ask for directions if they are lost. Though scientists speculate that it may somehow be possible for paternal cells to be involved with fetal neural development too, as they are 'in charge' of fixing the electrical issues in the house. Their work is published The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, exactly where one expects British findings to be published.