Parity-induced changes to mammary epithelial cells control NKT cell expansion and mammary oncogenesis

Abstract

Pregnancy reprograms the epigenome of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) in a manner that control responses to pregnancy hormone re-exposure and the rate of carcinoma progression. However, the influence of pregnancy on the tissue microenvironment of the mammary gland is less clear. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to comparatively profile the composition of epithelial and non-epithelial cells in mammary tissue from nulliparous and parous female mice. Our analysis revealed an expansion of {gamma}{delta} Natural Killer T (NKT) immune cells following pregnancy, in association with upregulation of immune signal molecules in post-pregnancy MECs. We show that expansion of NKT cells following pregnancy is due to elevated expression of the antigen presenting molecule CD1d protein, which is known to induce NKT activation. Accordingly, loss of CD1d expression on post-pregnancy MECs, or overall lack of activated NKT cells, accompanied the development of mammary oncogenesis in response to cMYC overexpression and loss of Brca1 function. Collectively, our findings illustrate how pregnancy-induced epigenetic changes modulate the communication between MECs and the mammary immune microenvironment, and establish a causal link between pregnancy, the immune microenvironment, and mammary oncogenesis.