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. Together, our findings highlight an
immunological influence of maternal microchimeric
cells postnatally, possibly protecting against adverse
hypersensitivity reactions of the neonate at a crucial time of
new encounters with self and environmental antigens.