Soluble CD52 mediates immune suppression by human seminal fluid

Seminal fluid provides for the carriage and nutrition of sperm, but also modulates immunity to prevent allo-rejection of sperm by the female. Immune suppression by seminal fluid has been associated with extracellular vesicles, originally termed prostasomes, which contain CD52, a glycosylated glycoph...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Leonard C. Harrison, Natalie L. Stone, Esther Bandala-Sanchez, Nicholas D. Huntington, Robert I. McLachlan, Jai Rautela, Moira K. O’Bryan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Immunology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1497889/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Seminal fluid provides for the carriage and nutrition of sperm, but also modulates immunity to prevent allo-rejection of sperm by the female. Immune suppression by seminal fluid has been associated with extracellular vesicles, originally termed prostasomes, which contain CD52, a glycosylated glycophosphoinositol-anchored peptide released from testicular epithelial cells. Previously, we reported that human T cell-derived CD52, bound to the danger-associated molecular pattern protein, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), suppresses T cell function via the inhibitory sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-10 (Siglec-10) receptor. Here we show that human seminal fluid contains high concentrations of CD52 complexed with HMGB1, which mediates T cell suppression indirectly via Siglec-7 on antigen-presenting cells. Proliferation of natural killer (NK) cells, which express Siglec-7 and play a key role in the immune defence of the uterus, was directly suppressed by seminal fluid CD52. These findings elucidate a critical function of seminal fluid to suppress cellular immunity and facilitate reproduction.
ISSN:1664-3224