Mass cytometry immunophenotyping data of two-week-old mouse pups' spleens depleted of maternal cells

The maternal cells transferred into the fetus during gestation persist long after birth in the progeny. These maternal cells have been hypothesized to promote the maturation of the fetal immune system in utero but there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of their potential roles after birth. To provide insights into these maternal cells' postnatal functional roles, we set up a transgenic mouse model to specifically eliminate maternal cells in the neonates by diphtheria toxin injection and confirmed significant depletion in the spleens. We then performed immunophenotyping of the spleens of two-week-old pups by mass cytometry to pinpoint the immune profile differences driven by the depletion of maternal cells in early postnatal life. We observed a heightened expression of markers related to activation and maturation in some natural killer and T cell populations. We hypothesize these results to indicate a potential postnatal regulation of lymphocytic responses by maternal cells...