Figure 3. Placental accumulation of maternal CD8⁺ T cells with fetal specificity triggered by prenatal L. monocytogenes infection.

(A) Representative FACS plots and composite data showing the percentage of fetal-OVA_257–264-specific (CD90.1⁺) cells among CD8⁺ T cells recovered from the decidua 3 days after L. monocytogenes ΔactA (10⁷ CFU) infection initiated midgestation (E11.5) among C57BL/6 female mice during allogeneic pregnancies after mating with BALB/c-OVA males compared with nontransgenic BALB/c males and controls without infection. Each symbol indicates the data from a single mouse, and these results, containing 5–8 mice per group, are representative of 3 independent experiments, each with similar results. (B) Representative histological analysis of the placentas recovered from mice described in A showing no infection control compared with L. monocytogenes ΔactA (10⁷ CFU) infection among OVA⁺ concepti after H&E staining, along with anti-CD90.1 (red) and DAPI nuclear immunofluorescence staining. High-magnification fields (original magnification, ×100) show placental tissue intersecting the decidua basalis (DB) and junctional zone (JZ). Brackets in the low-magnification fields (original magnification, ×4) indicate the source of decidual tissue harvested for analysis by flow cytometry. These images are representative of 10 individual placentas analyzed per group from 3 separate litters. Myo, myometrium; Lab, labyrinth; CP, chorionic plate. Error bars represent mean ± 1 SEM.