近日，美国哈佛医学院Deepshika Ramanan及其小组研制了乳腺上皮内淋巴细胞和肠道输入形成乳发生中的T细胞动力学。2025年7月29日出版的《自然—免疫学》杂志发表了这项成果。

该研究团队全面分析了乳腺T细胞，发现CD4⁺和CD8⁺显著增加。妊娠和哺乳期的T效应细胞，包括T细胞受体(TCR)αβ⁺CD8α^α+细胞的扩增。T细胞定位于乳腺上皮，类似于粘膜组织中典型的上皮内淋巴细胞（IELs）。与粘膜组织的相似性被证实为部分依赖于微生物线索，妊娠后期T细胞从肠道迁移到乳腺，以及肠道和乳腺组织之间共享的TCR克隆型，包括有趣的公共TCR家族。在人类乳房和乳汁中发现了假定的乳腺IELs对应物。在乳发生过程中，乳腺上皮组织能够从非粘膜组织过渡到粘膜屏障。

据了解，怀孕给乳腺带来了深刻的变化，为哺乳做准备，然而伴随这种快速重塑的免疫细胞变化尚不完全清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Mammary intraepithelial lymphocytes and intestinal inputs shape T cell dynamics in lactogenesis

Author: Jaquish, Abigail, Phung, Eleni, Gong, Xutong, Baldominos, Pilar, Galvn-Pea, Silvia, Magill, Ian, Bursulaya, Isabelle, Marina, Eleonora, Bertrand, Kerri, Chambers, Christina, Muoz-Rojas, Andrs R., Agudo, Judith, Mathis, Diane, Benoist, Christophe, Ramanan, Deepshika

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-29

Abstract: Pregnancy brings about profound changes in the mammary gland to prepare for lactation, yet immunocyte changes that accompany this rapid remodeling are incompletely understood. We comprehensively analyzed mammary T cells, revealing a marked increase in CD4+ and CD8+T effector cells, including an expansion of T cell receptor (TCR)αβ+CD8αα+ cells, in pregnancy and lactation. T cells were localized in the mammary epithelium, resembling intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) typically found in mucosal tissues. Similarity to mucosal tissues was substantiated by demonstrating partial dependence on microbial cues, T cell migration from the intestine to the mammary gland in late pregnancy and shared TCR clonotypes between intestinal and mammary tissues, including intriguing public TCR families. Putative counterparts of mammary IELs were found in human breast and milk. Mammary IELs are thus poised to manage the transition from a nonmucosal tissue to a mucosal barrier during lactogenesis.

DOI: 10.1038/s41590-025-02218-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-025-02218-3