Mamma MIA! Decidual NK cells involved in fetal neurodevelopment

Norman Shreeve1, Francesco Colucci2

  • 1Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, UK.

Immunity
|June 11, 2025
PubMed

Maternal immune activation (MIA) can cause neurodevelopmental disorders, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. In this issue of Immunity, Bian et al. show that MIA triggers decidual NK cells to secrete granzyme B, which crosses the placenta and disturbs microglial homeostasis in the fetal brain, leading to abnormal neurodevelopment.