{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T02:13:04Z","timestamp":1778119984115,"version":"3.51.4"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]]},"group-title":"Immunology","reference-count":38,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]],"date-time":"2025-11-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763424000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Tissue microenvironments shape lymphocyte differentiation to align immune function with local physiological demands. Uterine natural killer cells are critical for reproductive success, yet the molecular cues in the uterus that instruct their specialized identities remain incompletely understood. Here, we identify a TGF-\u03b2\u2013dependent differentiation pathway by which circulating conventional NK cells convert into uterine tissue-resident NK cells during murine pregnancy. Loss of TGF-\u03b2 receptor II expression in\n                  <jats:italic>Ncr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  -expressing cells disrupted this conversion, markedly reducing tissue-resident NK cells in the gravid uterus. Impaired TGF-\u03b2\u2013driven uterine tissue-resident NK cell differentiation during murine pregnancy led to abnormal spiral artery remodeling and increased fetal resorption rates at midgestation, ultimately reducing litter sizes at birth. Collectively, these findings define TGF-\u03b2 as a pivotal driver of tissue-resident NK cell differentiation in the gravid uterus and establish a mechanistic framework through which the uterine microenvironment programs NK cell identity to meet the physiological demands of gestation.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.11.18.688992","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]],"date-time":"2025-11-18T19:15:15Z","timestamp":1763493315000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["TGF-\u03b2 drives the conversion of conventional NK cells into uterine tissue-resident NK cells to support murine pregnancy"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7850-5848","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Josselyn D.","family":"Barahona","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Liping","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"D. Michael","family":"Nelson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0566-7264","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wayne M.","family":"Yokoyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 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