title: Implantation and the endometrium.
abstract: Our knowledge relating implantation and the endometrium is largely descriptive at present. In the absence of a unifying hypothesis, I describe endometrial receptivity for implantation. Tissue component data are described, first relating to whole tissue, then isolated glands and stroma, vessels, the luminal epithelium, and infiltrating leukocytes. Finally, I consider trophoblast-endometrial interaction. Stimulatory and inhibitory factors impinging on a proteolytic cascade must be related to the process of invasion of the trophoblast. Only early data are available, as the description of this fascinating process unfolds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jessop Hospital for Women, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Cooke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy