Reproductive immunology is an interdisciplinary field of reproductive biology and immunology. Division of Reproductive Immunology is one of the 18 divisions belonging to State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and our main research focuses on the field of reproductive immunology. We have made great progress in the field of elucidating molecular mechanisms of immunological regulation at maternal-fetal interface, immune contraception and immune anti-tumor. We have published more than 50 papers, gained 5 national patents, and established technological platforms for DNA vaccine, immune contraception, screening and cloning of differentially expressed genes in the process of embryo implantation.

CX3CL1 facilitated peripheral NK cell migration. (a) Isolated splenic CD3？CD49b+ NK cells were spun onto slides, stained for CX3CR1 (green) or isotype IgG and counterstained with PI (red). Panels ii and vi show higher magnifications of the areas marked by the white rectangles in panels i and iii, respectively. Original magnification, × 63/1.40 (oil), zoom 1.00 (i and iii) and zoom 4.00 (ii and vi). Data shown are representative of two independent experiments from two mice. (b) To distinguish between chemotaxis and chemokinesis, NK cells were preincubated overnight with or without 500 ng/ml PTX before measuring cell migration. NK cells were gated on the basis of forward scatter and side scatter (FSC-SSC) and the numbers of NK cells were shown. Data show the mean±S.E.M. of three independent experiments. **P﹤0.01 by independent samples T-test. (c) After 12 h in culture, stromal cell CM (termed control CM), IFN-γ-treated stromal cell CM (termed IFN-γ CM), AG490-preincubated stromal cells before IFN-γ treatment CM (termed IFN-γ+AG490 CM) and AG490-treated stromal cell CM (termed AG490 CM) were collected and NK cell migration in response to them was measured as described above. For comparison, the chemotaxis index of NK cells toward control CM was set at 1. Data show the mean±S.E.M. of three independent experiments. *P﹤0.05 and **Po0.01 by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). (d) Five μg/ml anti-CX3CL1-neutralizing mAb or control rat IgG was added to the NK cell suspension and the migration of NK cells toward IFN-γ CM was measured as described above. The chemotaxis index of NK cells without any treatment toward IFN-γ CM was set at 1. Data show the mean ±S.E.M. of three independent experiments. **P﹤0.01 by one-way ANOVA

Further certainty, the regulation of cyp26a1 on Th17 cells at uterine implantation sites by uterine horn injection of anti-cyp26a1 antibody during mice peri-implantation. (A) Decrease in cyp26a1 levels at D5 uterine implantation sites following uterine horn injection of cyp26a1 antibody on D3 of pregnancy. Cyp26a1 levels were reduced at uterine implantation sites based on Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. b-actin was used as a loading control. Pairwise comparisons between each treatment group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; bars = 50 lm. The data were derived from three separate samples from pregnant mice. (B) Th17cell increased in the peripheral blood and the spleen following uterine horn injection of cyp26a1 antibody. Flow cytometry histogram of Th17 cells is on the left side. Th17 cells are CD4+ RORct+. Th17 cell ratio was evaluated by flow cytometry analysis. The data are expressed as the% of CD4+ RORct+ double positive cells. The bars represent the SD of the mean. A paired t-test was used to assess the significance of differences. Pairwise comparisons between each treatment group, *P < 0.05. Three independent experiments were repeated for this time-point. A total of nine samples from pregnant mice were assessed. (C) Th17 levels were significantly reduced at uterine implantation sites based on Western blotting of pregnancy D5. b-actin was used as a loading control. The bars represent the SD of the mean of the relative value in grey (RORct/b-actin or IL-17/b-actin). A paired t-test was used to assess the significance of differences. Pairwise comparisons between each treatment group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. The data were derived from three separate samples from pregnant mice. Three independent experiments were repeated for this time-point. A total of nine samples from pregnant mice were assessed. (D) Th17 cell levels were obviously reduced at implantation sites of D5 pregnancy based on immunohistochemistry of RORct and IL-17; bars = 200 and 25 lm. The data were derived from three separate samples from pregnant mice. At least, three independent experiments were repeated for this time-point. A total of nine samples from pregnant mice were assessed. E, embryo; S, uterine stroma; LE, Luminal epithelium; GE, Glandular epithelium.

Selected publications:
1. The molecular mechanisms of immunological regulation at maternal-fetal interface. 2. immune contraception 3. The mechanisms of tumorigenesis and metastasis of reproduction associated tumor.

Selected publications:

1. Quan-Hong Sun, Jing-Pian Peng*, Hong-Fei Xia, (2005)  Effect on expression of RT1-A and RT1-DM molecules treatment with interferon gamma at the maternal-fetal interface of pregnant rat. Hum. Reprod., 20(9):2639-2647.
2. Shu-Qun Shi, Li Xu, Gang Zhao, Yang Ying, Jing-Pian Peng*,(2006) Apoptosis and tumor inhibition induced by human chorionic gonadotropin beta in mouse breast carcinoma. J Mol Med. 84:933–941.
3. Hong-Fei Xia, Jing-Jing Ma, Jing Sun, Ying Yang, Jing-Pian Peng*(2010). Retinoic acid metabolizing enzyme CYP26A1 is implicated in rat embryo implantation Hum Reprod, 25(12):2985-2998.
4. Bing-Chen Han, Hong-Fei Xia, Jing Sun, Ying Yang, Jing-Pian Peng*, (2010) Retinoic Acid-metabolizing Enzyme Cytochrome P450 26a1 (Cyp26a1) Is Essential for Implantation: Functional Study of Its Role in Early Pregnancy . J cell physiol.  223: 471-479.
5. Zhong-Yin Li, Hu-He Chao, Hai-Yan Liu, Zhi-Hui Song, Li-Li Li, Yu-Jie Zhang, Ying Yang, Jing-Pian Peng,*(2014) IFN-γ induces aberrant CD49b+ NK cell recruitment through regulating CX3CL1: a novel mechanism by which IFN-γ provokes pregnancy failure, Cell Death Dis. 5, e1512; doi:10.1038/cddis.2014.470

IFN-γ treatment enhanced the accumulation of the CD49b+ NK cell subset. Syngeneically mated BALB/c female mice were injected with solvent or IFN-γ intraperitoneally on GD6 and killed on GD8. (a) Analysis of DBA lectin-stained uNK cells in the uteri by immunohistochemistry. Arrows indicate DBA lectin-positive cells. Photomicrographs are representative of five mice in each group. Panels iii and iv are higher magnifications of areas marked by the black rectangles in panels i and ii, respectively. Scale bar: 500 μm (i and ii) and 25 μm (iii and iv). (b) CD49b expression in uteri was analysed by quantitative PCR (top panel) and western blotting (bottom panel). Data show the mean± S.E.M. of four independent experiments and are obtained from four mice of each group, respectively. *Po0.05 by independent samples T-test. Flow cytometric analysis of cell suspensions from uteri (c) and peripheral blood (d). See Supplementary Figures 1B and C for the gating strategy and the percentages of CD3？CD49b+ NK cells (lowerright quadrant). Data show the mean±S.E.M. of four (uteri) or five (blood) independent experiments and are obtained from four (uteri) or five (blood) mice of each group, respectively. **Po0.01 by independent samples T-test. DB, decidua basalis; E, embryo.