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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Extrathymic rearrangement of alphabetaT-lymphocyte antigen receptor genes during pregnancy
S V Shirshev1, E M Kuklina, A Yu Maksimov
1Institute of Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Perm 614081, Russia.
Abstract:
The existence of alphabetaT-lymphocyte differentiation processes have been demonstrated in mouse peripheral lymphoid organs during pregnancy. Study of pregnant Swiss mice has shown that the development of the second half of gestation is accompanied by expression of RAG-1 recombinase mRNA and unrearranged TCR alpha-chain (pre-TCRalpha) preferentially in T-lymphocytes of lymph nodes involved in uterine drainage (para-aortal lymph nodes), and to a lesser extent in other lymph nodes (mainly from axillary lymph nodes). The data suggest that during pregnancy the differentiation of alphabetaT lymphocytes may occur not only in central (thymus) but also in peripheral lymphoid organs.
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