Placenta
Volume 29, Supplement , Pages 26-28, March 2008

Regulation of Trophoblast Invasion — A Workshop Report

  • M. Knöfler

      Affiliations

    • Department of Obstetrics and Fetal–Maternal Medicine, Reproductive Biology Unit, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
    • ,
  • D.G. Simmons

      Affiliations

    • Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada
    • ,
  • G.E. Lash

      Affiliations

    • Uterine Cell Signalling Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
    • ,
  • L.K. Harris

      Affiliations

    • Maternal and Fetal Health Research Group, University of Manchester, UK
    • ,
  • D.R. Armant

      Affiliations

    • C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
    • Reproductive Biology and Medicine Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 275 East Hancock Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201-1405, USA. Tel.: +1 313 577 1748; fax: +1 313 577 8554.

Accepted 13 November 2007. published online 17 December 2007.

Abstract 

Trophoblast invasion during placental development helps to establish efficient physiological exchange between maternal and fetal circulatory systems. Trophoblast stem cells differentiate into multiple subtypes, including some that are highly invasive. Signalling to the trophoblast from decidua, uterine natural killer cells and vascular smooth muscle can regulate extravillous trophoblast differentiation. Important questions remain about how these cellular interactions promote trophoblast invasion and the signalling pathways that are involved. New and established biological models are being used to experimentally examine these interactions and the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Keywords: Trophoblast giant cells, Extravillous trophoblast, Invasion, Uterine NK cell, Spiral artery

 

PII: S0143-4004(07)00269-X

doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2007.11.008

Placenta
Volume 29, Supplement , Pages 26-28, March 2008

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