TLR3-involved modulation of pregnancy tolerance in double-stranded RNA-stimulated NOD/SCID mice

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 CD8alpha(+)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 CD8alpha(+)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.