Problem: The R80K protein on human trophoblast is antigenically polymorphic, and in all placentae of successful pregnancies, the protein is covered by maternal alloantibody. Alloantibody eluted from human placenta has been shown to inhibit killing by human NK cells. Do those antibodies to R80K that inhibit NK killing also affect the murine abortion models?
Methods: We made three murine monoclonal antibodies to conserved epitopes, on human R80K, all of which also reacted with the homologous murine molecule. One antibody only, BA11, suppressed NK cytotoxicity to K562 and of mouse spleen NK cells to murine trophoblast. All three were tested in mouse models of abortion: the CBA x DBA/2 model with a high resorption rate of F1 embryos compared with the parental strains, an endotoxin induced abortion/resorption model and a third model in which the pregnant mouse is subject to sonic stress.
Conclusion: Those IgG antibodies eluted from microvesicles which bound to K562, and one of the three monoclonals, BA11, inhibited NK killing. The antibodies react with the murine molecule, and BA11 inhibited abortion in all three mouse abortion models. This reinforces the thesis that interference with NK killing can influence abortion/resorption in mice, and the BA11 antibody may effect similar results in analogous human situations.