-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Pavine Lefèvre, Danila B. Campos, Bruce D. Murphy, Talk to Me: The Embryo Dictates Gene Expression by the Endometrium, Endocrinology, Volume 148, Issue 9, 1 September 2007, Pages 4170–4172, https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2007-0722
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
The evolution of mechanisms of implantation, embryo invasion, and placental formation was essential to the success of viviparity, the defining characteristic of Eutherian mammals. Numerous evolutionary variations on this theme resulted in different forms of placentation, with intimacy of the embryo-endometrial interaction ranging from a simple but firm attachment (epitheliochorial placentation) to erosion of the endometrial epithelium and maternal endothelium by the invading embryo (hemochorial placentation). It is not surprising that development of these specializations required cross talk between the embryonic passenger and the endometrium, the tissue that hosts it for the gestational journey. The developing embryo may demonstrate its presence even before arrival in the uterus because there is evidence that it can affect both the expression of oviductal genes and its own transport (1). The best-known signal from embryo to uterus is found in ruminants in which an immunoregulatory protein, interferon-τ, has been conscripted for embryo signaling. In most other species and contexts, neither the message nor the response is well defined. Furthermore, the focus in studies of embryo implantation has been largely on the endometrial side of the conversation, i.e. how the uterine environment dictates the attachment and invasion of the trophoblast (2). The article in this issue by Kashiwagi et al. (3) is based on investigation of the other side of the dialogue, i.e. how the embryo directs the development of the placental specializations of the endometrium. They approached the problem by high-density microarray analysis, followed by confirmation of abundance of RNA and protein of selected genes.
