Stanic Lab publishes study in Frontiers in Immunology

Aleksandar Stanic-Kostic, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Divisions of Reproductive Sciences and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, co-authored a new article published in Frontiers in Immunology.

Postdoctoral researcher Jessica Vazquez, PhD, is lead author on the article, and co-authors include Mona A. Mohamed, Soma Banerjee, PhD, Logan T. Keding, PhD, Michelle R. Koenig, Fernanda Leyva Jaimes, Rachel C. Fisher, Emily M. Bove, and Thaddeus G. Golos, PhD, professor in the School of Veterinary Sciences and the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences.

In “Deciphering decidual leukocyte traffic with serial intravascular staining,” the authors draw attention to the fact that immune cells within the decidual immunome are widely unstudied. This immunome is a system of multiple types of immune cells present in the part of the endometrium — the tissue lining the uterus — known as the decidua that helps protect the fetus from viruses. During pregnancy, the amount of specific immune cells fluctuates, but by how much and why is still being researched.

The Stanic Lab team used intravascular staining to study the levels of these cells in pregnant mice and primates:

“This technique will prove useful in answering outstanding questions regarding leukocyte traffic in the decidua…moving forward, similar studies can include a longer time frame between infusions and/or additional infusions to obtain better temporal resolution within waves of decidual leukocyte traffic.”

Read the whole article here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Paige Stevenson

Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Reproductive Sciences Publication Research Stanic-Kostic Research Team Golos Research Team