Trophoblast biology: Forum introduction
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BioMed Central
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Trophoblast biology: Forum introduction Thomas E Spencer* and Fuller W Bazer Address: Forum coordinators, Center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics, Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA Email: Thomas E Spencer* - [email protected]; Fuller W Bazer - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 05 July 2004 Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2004, 2:45
doi:10.1186/1477-7827-2-45
Received: 15 May 2004 Accepted: 05 July 2004
This article is available from: http://www.rbej.com/content/2/1/45 © 2004 Spencer and Bazer; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.
Abstract In mammals, a carefully orchestrated dialogue between the mother and conceptus (embryo/fetus and associate extraembryonic membranes) is initiated during the peri-implantation period of pregnancy as the trophoblast develops, functions to signal pregnancy recognition, and initiates implantation. The purpose of this Forum is to highlight comparative aspects of trophoblast morphogenesis and function in mammals.
In mammals, a carefully orchestrated dialogue between the mother and conceptus (embryo/fetus and associate extraembryonic membranes) is initiated during the periimplantation period of pregnancy as the trophoblast develops, functions to signal pregnancy recognition, and initiates implantation. As implantation proceeds, the trophoblast of most species continues to develop and differentiate to form a variety of specialized cell types that are involved in placentation and secretion of unique hormones that directly regulate maternal adaptations to pregnancy. Trophoblast morphogenesis and function during implantation and placentation are critical for reproductive success in mammals. Many causes of infertility and embryonic/fetal losses in pregnancies of humans and domestic animals are due to failure or abnormalities in implantation and placentation related to inadequate or insufficient interactions between the trophoblast and uterus. In addition to clinical infertility, several of these problems lead to fetal growth retardation and life threatening complications such as pre-eclampsia. The purpose of this Forum is to highlight comparative aspects of trophoblast morphogenesis and function in mammals. The first paper of our Forum by A.M. Carter and A.C. Enders [1] provides an excellent summary of pla-
centation in eutherian mammals. The second paper by R.M. Roberts, T. Ezashi and P. Das [2] focuses largely on the transcription factors that regulate specification and development of the early trophoblast. Much of the genetic and developmental information is from studies of mice given the abundance of knowledge in this model system, but comparative aspects of trophoblast development are presented. The third paper [3] by J.D. Aplin and S.J. Kimber summarizes the cellular and molecu
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