(A) Schematic representation to localize the decidua basalis and decidua parietalis. (B) Gating strategy used to identify activated iNKT-like cells (CD69+CD56+CD3+CD19-CD14-CD15- cells) in human decidual tissue. (C) Activated i-iNKT-like cells in the decidual basalis or decidual parietalis from women who underwent spontaneous term labor (TIL) or spontaneous preterm labor (PTL). Controls included samples from women who delivered at term (TNL) or preterm (PTNL) without labor. Data are from individual women: n=7 for TNL, n=27 for TIL, n=13 for PTNL, and n=14 for PTL. (D) Identification of CD3+Vα24Jα18TCR+CD69+ cells in PTL decidual tissues. (E) Identification of activated iNKT-like cells in the decidua parietalis by confocal microscopy. Nuclei are blue (DAPI), CD3+ cells are red (Alexa Fluor 594), CD56+ cells are magenta (APC), and CD69+ cells are green (FITC). White arrows represent activated NKT cells. Scale bars: 20 μm.