Gabrielle Rizzuto

It is well accepted in the field of immunology that the immune system, composed of cells, proteins, and molecules, can discriminate self from foreign (non-self). Indeed, evidence shows that an ability to distinguish self and foreign is required to prevent harmful immune responses to the body’s own tissues and ensure protection from pathogens. While the rejection response elicited by genetically disparate organ transplants is consistent with the self/foreign paradigm of immunology, the absence of a maternal rejection response against the genetically disparate placenta and fetus defies this major paradigm. The Rizzuto lab uses mouse models and immunologic tools in innovative ways to define and dissect immune tolerance pathways to placental and fetal proteins.  

Our wish to understand the basic science of reproductive immunology is motivated by a translational interest in alleviating devastating and poorly understood pregnancy syndromes that involve the maternal immune system, including pre-eclampsia. An additional motivation stems from the intriguing parallel between reproductive immunology and tumor immunology. The placenta naturally exhibits many of the “hallmarks of cancer”, including invasiveness, accessing vasculature, genomic instability, and immune evasion. Notably, the placenta is seemingly impervious to immunotherapies that elicit rejection of tumors, supporting our hypothesis that multiple, novel immune tolerance mechanisms operate in concert to safeguard pregnancy. Thus, by unraveling the immunologic paradox of pregnancy, our lab will also discover new ways to invigorate immune responses against tumors.