Figure 1
Effects of NK cell ablation and DC expansion on pregnancy progression and fetal development. (a) Experimental design: pregnant CD11c-DTR females were injected i.p. with anti-asialo GM1 for NK ablation on E4.5 or with 10 μg FL for DC expansion from E0.5 to 7.5, as described in methods. Fetuses (E13.5 and 16.5) or pups (post-natal day 4, PN4) were analyzed. (b) Pregnancy progression following NK cell depletion or DC expansion in female mice. Mean length of gestation (days) did not vary among the different groups analyzed. (c) Gender distribution of offspring from aNK and eDC female mice. No differences were observed in the percentage of male and female pups with respect to controls. (d–f) Left panels: morphometric characterization of fetal development in aNK and eDC female mice. The figure shows representative examples of fetuses (E13.5 and E16.5) and pups (PN4) obtained from control, aNK and eDC dams. Scale bar=0.5 cm. Analysis of fetal development following NK cell depletion or DC expansion in female mice. Fetuses carried by aNK or eDC females on E13.5 and 16.5 showed no differences in Theiler stage of development with respect to control mice. (d–f) Right panels: mean body weights resistered in the offspring following NK depletion or DC expansion during early pregnancy. Reduction of body weight was detected in E13.5, E16.5 fetuses carried by aNK dams, which persists until PN4 with respect to weights rescorded in control and eDC mice. In all figures, data shown are mean±S.E.M. derived from six to eight mice per group or 48–56 embryos/pups per group. Differences are denoted as *P<0.05 and **P<0.001, as analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey post-hoc test
