{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]],"date-time":"2026-09-27T09:44:24Z","timestamp":1790502264931,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":131,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,4]],"date-time":"2022-01-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641254400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A high number of leucocytes reside in the human endometrium and are distributed differentially during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. During early pregnancy, decidual natural killer (dNK) cells are the most common type of natural killer (NK) cells in the uterus. The increase in the number of uterine NK (uNK) cells during the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, followed by further increase of dNK cells in early pregnancy, has heightened interest in their involvement during pregnancy. Extensive research has revealed various roles of dNK cells during pregnancy including the formation of new blood vessels, migration of trophoblasts, and immunological tolerance. The present review article is focused on the significance of NK cells during pregnancy and their role in pregnancy-related diseases. The article will provide an in-depth review of cellular and molecular interactions during pregnancy and related disorders, with NK cells playing a pivotal role. Moreover, this study will help researchers to understand the physiology of normal pregnancy and related complications with respect to NK cells, so that future research work can be designed to alleviate the complications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom12010068","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,5]],"date-time":"2022-01-05T20:42:16Z","timestamp":1641415336000},"page":"68","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["Role of Natural Killer Cells during Pregnancy and Related Complications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Deviyani","family":"Mahajan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8638-4217","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Neeta Raj","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sudhakar","family":"Kancharla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Devansh Lab Werks, 234 Aquarius Drive, Homewood, AL 35209, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Prachetha","family":"Kolli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microgen Health Inc., 14225 Sullyfield Cir Suite E, Chantilly, VA 20151, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5741-8246","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashutosh","family":"Tripathy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amarish Kumar","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sanjeev","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sudarshan","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Animal Biotechnology Centre, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132001, Haryana, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashok Kumar","family":"Mohanty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar Campus, Mukteswar 263138, Uttarakhand, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3847-8539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manoj Kumar","family":"Jena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"603","DOI":"10.1038\/172603a0","article-title":"Actively acquired tolerance of foreign cells","volume":"172","author":"Billingham","year":"1953","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1749-6632.2010.05938.x","article-title":"Inflammation and pregnancy: The role of the immune system at the implantation site","volume":"1221","author":"Mor","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ann. 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