Uterine Natural Killer Cells and Implantation

Abstract

Decidual leukocytes make up approximately 30% of all decidual stromal cells in early pregnancy, of which 70% are uterine natural killer (uNK) cells. uNK cells are phenotypically distinct from peripheral blood NK cells, being CD56[Formula: see text]CD16[Formula: see text]. A recent single-cell sequencing project of the decidua identified three subsets of uNK cells, but we are yet to determine how they differ functionally. Several roles for uNK cells in implantation are starting to emerge including biosensing of poor-quality embryos, killing of bacteria infected trophoblast, spiral artery remodeling, and regulation of trophoblast invasion. Altered numbers of uNK cells have been identified in several pathological conditions, but whether this is causative of the condition is currently unclear.