Insufficient peroxiredoxin-2 expression in uterine NK cells obtained from a murine model of abortion

The CBA/J × DBA/2 mouse mating combination is prone to spontaneous embryo loss, in contrast to the MHC-identical CBA/J × BALB/c mating combination, which yields successful pregnancies. The underlying mechanisms for these observations are unclear. In this study, multi-vision immunohistochemical staining (IHC), flow cytometry and Western blot analysis were used to detect peroxiredoxin-2 (PRX-2) expression in the uterine natural killer (uNK) cells from CBA/J × DBA/2 and CBA/J × BALB/c mice. In IHC analysis, co-localization of PRX-2 and lectin from Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA-lectin) was confirmed and the frequency of PRX-2(+) DBA-lectin(+) cells was significantly lower in CBA/J × DBA/2 than CBA/J × BALB/c. In flow cytometry and Western blotting, PRX-2 was found expressed at a significantly lower level in CBA/J × DBA/2 mice. PRX-2 inhibition with a neutralizing antibody significantly decreased PRX-2 expression, increased the cytotoxicity of uNK cells, and increased the percentage of embryo loss in CBA/J × DBA/2J mice. Our data suggest that PRX-2 may be involved in the modulation of maternal-fetal tolerance and that insufficient expression of this protein may correlate with increased embryo loss in CBA/J × DBA/2J mice.