Surfactant protein A: an immunoregulatory molecule involved in female reproductive biology.
Surfactant protein A (SP-A), a member of the collectin family originally described as a major component of lung surfactant, plays an important role in the modulation of lung host defense. A new interest in SP-A is provided by the link between fetal lung development and the timing of labor in the mouse. In the present review, we discuss some of the known features of SP-A such as biological functions, signaling pathways involved and the recent developments showing that SP-A bind and serve as a signal in the female genital tract. Therefore, such reports support a new paradigm involving SP-A as a multifunctional protein in the parturition process.
Garcia-Verdugo
Ignacio
I
Institut Pasteur, Unité de Défense Innée et Inflammation, Département Infection et Epidémiologie, Paris, France.
Tanfin
Zahra
Z
Breuiller-Fouche
Michelle
M
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009215:Myometrium / Q000378:metabolism; D036801:Parturition / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A