Immunoglobulin and complement receptor-bearing cells in cultures of mouse decidual tissue

Cells disaggregated from decidual tissue of the pregnant mouse were cultured overnight and examined in erythrocyte-antibody rosetting assays for the presence of cell surface receptors for the Fc region of immunoglobulin. Fc receptor-bearing cells were present from Day 4 post coitum (Day 1 = day of mating) as an increasing proportion of the total number of cells in the cultures, although the precise proportion showed considerable strain-dependent variation. In a similar assay, complement receptor-bearing cells were not detected in cultures of decidual tissue until 14-15 days of pregnancy. The presence of Fc receptor-bearing cells in the decidua supports the suggestion that this tissue may have a role in the immunological interactions between the mother and her antigenically alien embryo.