Choriocarcinoma Cells Modulate the Cytokine Production of Decidual Large Granular Lymphocytes in Coculture

PROBLEM: How do major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I positive/negative choriocarcinoma (CC) cells affect the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by decidual CD56++ cells (large granular lymphocytes [LGL]), LGL-depleted decidual cells (WASH) and unseparated decidual cells (DEC) in cocultures? METHOD OF STUDY: Decidual tissue was obtained by legal abortions. CD 56++ LGL were isolated in a magnetic cell separator. Cytokines were measured by ELISA. Differences were analyzed for significance by Wilcoxons test. RESULTS: We found a significant increase of IL-10 in LGL/JEG-3 and of TNF-alpha in LGL/JAR cocultures compared to noncocultured decidual cells. There was a significant increase of IL-10 and TNF-alpha and a significant decrease of GM-CSF in WASH and DEC cocultures with both JEG-3 and JAR. IFN-gamma was only found in 3/11 cases of LGL/JAR cocultures. No IL-4 was found in any experiment. CONCLUSION: MHC class I positive/negative CC modulate the cytokine production of decidual LGL in different ways.