gamma delta TCR+ cells of the pregnant ovine uterus express variable T cell receptors and contain granulysin

gamma delta T cells are a prominent granulated cell population in the ruminant pregnant uterus and both their number and granule size increase dramatically during pregnancy. Anchor-RT-PCR was used to assess TCR delta gene usage by gamma delta T cells from the uterine epithelium of pregnant sheep. The TCR delta genes obtained exhibited distinct combinatorial and junctional diversity and only two out of nine V-D-J rearrangements sequenced were identical. Furthermore, two of the V delta elements used are also expressed in peripheral blood, indicating that gamma delta TCR use in sheep epithelia is neither restricted nor site-specific, similar to humans but in contrast to findings in mice. Protein analysis of purified, granulated uterine gamma delta T cells revealed the presence of large amounts of the antimicrobial peptide, granulysin. The results of the present study indicate that ovine uterine gamma delta TCR+ intraepithelial lymphocytes have the potential to recognise diverse antigens and may have a role in protecting the uterus from infection during pregnancy and parturition. A similar protective role for gamma delta T cells may exist in the human decidua parietalis. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.