Demographic and obstetric characteristics of the study population.

<p>HW. Healthy women.</p><p>HP. Healthy pregnant women.</p><p>ILI. Pregnant women with influenza-like illness.</p><p>PH1N1. H1N1pdm2009 virus-infected pregnant women.</p><p>Gw. Gestational weeks.</p><p>n/a not applicable.</p><p>*Fisher’s exact test.</p><p>Demographic and obstetric characteristics of the study population.</p

Serum cytokine concentrations in HW, HP, ILI and PH1N1 women.

<p>Pro-inflammatory TNF-α (a), IL-1β (b) and IL-6 (c) and anti-inflammatory IL-10 (d) cytokines were quantified using a CBA system with flow cytometry. The Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test was performed using the GraphPad Software. The significance values were *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.</p

Higher percentage of CD69+ lymphocytes in H1N1pdm2009 virus-infected pregnant women.

<p>The peripheral blood leukocytes from the HW, HP, ILI and PH1N1 women were immunostained with CD3-, CD19-, CD14- and CD69-specific antibodies and analyzed by flow cytometry. Representative data of each group are shown in the dot plots for CD69+CD3+ cells (a). The distribution of CD69 expression on CD3− (b), CD19− (c) or CD14− (d) gated cells. The Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test was performed using the GraphPad Software. The significance values were *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.</p

Clinical manifestations in the ILI and PH1N1 women.

<p>ILI: Pregnant women with influenza-like illness.</p><p>PH1N1: Confirmed H1N1pdm2009 virus-infected pregnant women.</p><p>*Fisher’s exact test.</p><p>Clinical manifestations in the ILI and PH1N1 women.</p

Distribution of leukocytes in the blood.

<p>HW. Healthy women.</p><p>HP. Healthy pregnant women.</p><p>ILI. Pregnant women with influenza-like illness.</p><p>PH1N1. H1N1pdm2009 virus-infected pregnant women.</p><p>a. HW vs ILI.</p><p>b. ILI vs PH1N1.</p><p>c. HW vs PH1N1.</p><p>d. HP vs PH1N1.</p><p>e. HW vs HP.</p><p>f. HP vs ILI.</p>±<p>Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test.</p><p>P values: * = p<0.05; ** = p<0.01; *** = p<0.001.</p><p>Distribution of leukocytes in the blood.</p

DataSheet_2_NK cells with decreased expression of multiple activating receptors is a dominant phenotype in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.docx

NK cells have unique attributes to react towards cells undergoing malignant transformation or viral infection. This reactivity is regulated by activating or inhibitory germline encoded receptors. An impaired NK cell function may result from an aberrant expression of such receptors, a condition often seen in patients with hematological cancers. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer worldwide and NK cells have emerged as crucial targets for developing immunotherapies. However, there are important gaps concerning the phenotype and behavior of NK cells during emergence of ALL. In this study we analyze the phenotype and function of NK cells from peripheral blood in pediatric patients with ALL at diagnosis. Our results showed that NK cells exhibited an altered phenotype highlighted by a significant reduction in the overall expression and percent representation of activating receptors compared to age-matched controls. No significant differences were found for the expression of inhibitory receptors. Moreover, NK cells with a concurrent reduced expression in various activating receptors, was the dominant phenotype among patients. An alteration in the relative frequencies of NK cells expressing NKG2A and CD57 within the mature NK cell pool was also observed. In addition, NK cells from patients displayed a significant reduction in the ability to sustain antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Finally, an aberrant expression of activating receptors is associated with the phenomenon of leukemia during childhood.</p

DataSheet_1_NK cells with decreased expression of multiple activating receptors is a dominant phenotype in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.pdf

NK cells have unique attributes to react towards cells undergoing malignant transformation or viral infection. This reactivity is regulated by activating or inhibitory germline encoded receptors. An impaired NK cell function may result from an aberrant expression of such receptors, a condition often seen in patients with hematological cancers. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer worldwide and NK cells have emerged as crucial targets for developing immunotherapies. However, there are important gaps concerning the phenotype and behavior of NK cells during emergence of ALL. In this study we analyze the phenotype and function of NK cells from peripheral blood in pediatric patients with ALL at diagnosis. Our results showed that NK cells exhibited an altered phenotype highlighted by a significant reduction in the overall expression and percent representation of activating receptors compared to age-matched controls. No significant differences were found for the expression of inhibitory receptors. Moreover, NK cells with a concurrent reduced expression in various activating receptors, was the dominant phenotype among patients. An alteration in the relative frequencies of NK cells expressing NKG2A and CD57 within the mature NK cell pool was also observed. In addition, NK cells from patients displayed a significant reduction in the ability to sustain antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Finally, an aberrant expression of activating receptors is associated with the phenomenon of leukemia during childhood.</p