Decidualization and implantation: embryo-uterine bioinformatics at work.
The implantation of the blastocyst into a nurturing endometrium involves two overlapping steps: 1. The blastocyst-endometrial luminal epithelial attachment. 2. The decidualization of the endometrial stroma. An intriguing question is how does the blastocyst identify the uterine implantation site. Current research is focused on hypothetical soluble signaling molecules released by the blastocyst for conditioning a discrete uterine luminal epithelial domain for implantation. A still unresolved issue is the functional significance of receptor autophosphorylation following binding of uterine epithelial cell-derived heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor to the epidermal growth factor receptor on trophoectodermic cell surfaces. With recent results hinting at the role of signaling proteins associated with the bone morphogenetic protein, fibroblast growth factor, WNT and hedgehog families to enable embryo implantation, the dynamics of uterine-embryo interaction becomes linked to fundamental cellular pathways of growth, differentiation and apoptosis.
Kierszenbaum
A L
AL
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences, The City University of New York Medical School, New York, New York, USA.
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D003656:Decidua / Q000502:physiology*; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011247:Pregnancy; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases / Q000378:metabolism*
D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases