TJ6: the pregnancy-associated cytokine.

These studies have demonstrated that TJ6m protein can be measured in women prior to a spontaneous abortion based on expression of TJ6 on CD56-positive NK cells. This suggested to us a possible regulator function for TJ6 during pregnancy. We have shown that in T cells only crosslinking of the T-cell receptor can upregulate TJ6 expression and the other activators, such as mitogens, do not. A clear discrepancy in the pattern of expression of TJ6 on CD56 and CD19-positive cells was noted between successful and unsuccessful pregnancies. A successful pregnancy is denoted by TJ6 expression on B cells, whereas in a potential spontaneous abortion there is TJ6 expression on both NK and B cells.