title: Immunological aspects of human implantation.
abstract: The immunological relationship between the mammalian fetus and its mother during pregnancy has been considered similar to that between a transplanted allograft and its recipient. Hence, it has been assumed that implantation of the fetal placenta in the uterus would be controlled in a similar way by a maternal immune response mediated by T cells recognizing paternally derived alloantigens expressed by the placenta. However, recent evidence indicates that implantation might involve predominantly a novel allogeneic recognition system based on natural killer cells rather than T cells. The cellular and molecular basis of this local immune interaction between the fetal placenta and maternal uterus is the focus of intense research interest. As aberrant implantation can cause a variety of clinical problems including miscarriage, intrauterine growth retardation and pre-eclampsia, an understanding of the immunological mechanism by which this process is controlled could lead to the development of regimens to improve fetal growth and development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Loke
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology; D010920:Placenta / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000276:immunology*; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000276:immunology; D014599:Uterus / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D006680:HLA Antigens