BACKGROUND Hofbauer cells (HBCs) are macrophages of the feto-placental unit. Despite the general view that these cells have an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, recent studies have claimed that pregnancy pathologies-e.g., gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)-cause a switch from an M2 to an M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype in HBCs. The pilot-study presented here challenges this claim, showing that HBC...

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in human choriocarcinoma cells (malignant trophoblasts) was characterized by its greater sensitivity to EDTA and L-leucine inhibition as compared with the placental isozyme. In addition, both the fully processed and the nonglycosylated forms of choriocarcinoma ALP migrated faster than the corresponding placental enzyme in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel elec...

Embryonic hematopoiesis starts via the generation of primitive red blood cells (RBCs) that satisfy the embryo's immediate oxygen needs. Although primitive RBCs were thought to retain their nuclei, recent studies have shown that primitive RBCs in mice enucleate in the fetal liver. It has been unknown whether human primitive RBCs enucleate, and what hematopoietic site might support this process. ...

Ectopic pregnancies complicate 1-2 pregnancies and are a leading cause of maternal death. An effective oral drug therapy that replaces surgery might make its treatment safer, cheaper, simpler and therefore more widely accessible. The only current medical treatment offered to women is intramuscular methotrexate, but this only reliably resolves smaller ectopic pregnancies. As such, many ectopic p...

Placental choriocarcinoma is a highly malignant tumor of the female reproductive organs. Even with chemotherapy, placental choriocarcinoma has a 20% mortality rate due to its indistinct pathogenesis and the absence of efficient therapeutic methods for this cancer. Wnt proteins and Wnt signaling are involved in a variety of developmental and cellular processes, and aberrant activation of Wnt sig...

BACKGROUND Extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells are of pivotal importance in human embryo implantation and homeostasis of the maternal fetal interface. Invasion of the endometrium by EVT contributes to placental anchorage, spiral artery remodeling, immunological defense, tolerogenic responses, and several collaborative cross talks involved in establishing and maintaining a successful pregnancy....

This study was undertaken to determine whether mouse placental lactogen (mPL)-I, mPL-II, and proliferin (PLF) are expressed by the same population of placental giant cells at midpregnancy. Tissue sections from Day 9 of pregnancy were analyzed by double immunofluorescence staining. Sections were stained for PLF by use of a rhodamine-conjugated second antibody, and for mPL-I or mPL-II by use of a...

The placenta forms connection between growing fetus and uterine wall and is a unique, temporary, highly specialized organ required for the development of the embryo and fetus. In humans, as early as 3-4 days after fertilization trophoblas-tic cells can be identified on the outer layer of cells within the blastocyst. These precursor cells differentiate into all the other placental cell types tha...

We have recently shown that there was a developmental increase in placental trophoblast vascular endothelial growth/permeability factor (VEG/PF) expression and vascularization that closely paralleled maternal serum estrogen levels during advancing baboon gestation. The present study determined whether estrogen regulates these important aspects of primate development. VEG/PF mRNA levels were det...

In viviparous animals, regulation of expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigens by the trophoblast cells, which constitute the outermost layer of the placenta, seems to be critical for maternal immunological acceptance of an allogeneic fetus. Cattle are unusual in this regard, since the bovine trophoblast cells, in specific regions of the uterine/placental interface, ...