Reproductive Immunology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Monoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Front Immunol. 2024 Apr 19;15:1385762. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1385762. eCollection 2024.
The transition from oviparity to viviparity and the establishment of feto-maternal communications introduced the placenta as the major anatomical site to provide nutrients, gases, and hormones to the developing fetus. The placenta has endocrine functions, orchestrates maternal adaptations to pregnancy at different periods of pregnancy, and acts as a selective barrier to minimize exposure of developing fetus to xenobiotics, pathogens, and parasites. Despite the fact that this ancient organ is central for establishment of a normal pregnancy in eutherians, the placenta remains one of the least studied organs. The first step of pregnancy, embryo implantation, is finely regulated by the trophoectoderm, the precursor of all trophoblast cells. There is a bidirectional communication between placenta and endometrium leading to decidualization, a critical step for maintenance of pregnancy. There are three-direction interactions between the placenta, maternal immune cells, and the endometrium for adaptation of endometrial immune system to the allogeneic fetus. While 65% of all systemically expressed human proteins have been found in the placenta tissues, it expresses numerous placenta-specific proteins, whose expression are dramatically changed in gestational diseases and could serve as biomarkers for early detection of gestational diseases. Surprisingly, placentation and carcinogenesis exhibit numerous shared features in metabolism and cell behavior, proteins and molecular signatures, signaling pathways, and tissue microenvironment, which proposes the concept of "cancer as ectopic trophoblastic cells". By extensive researches in this novel field, a handful of cancer biomarkers has been discovered. This review paper, which has been inspired in part by our extensive experiences during the past couple of years, highlights new aspects of placental functions with emphasis on its immunomodulatory role in establishment of a successful pregnancy and on a potential link between placentation and carcinogenesis.
从卵生到胎生的转变以及胎儿-母体通讯的建立，使胎盘成为提供营养、气体和激素给发育中的胎儿的主要解剖部位。胎盘具有内分泌功能，协调母体在妊娠不同时期的适应，作为选择性屏障，最大限度地减少发育中的胎儿暴露于外来物质、病原体和寄生虫。尽管这个古老的器官对于真兽类建立正常妊娠至关重要，但它仍然是研究最少的器官之一。妊娠的第一步，胚胎着床，是由滋养外胚层精细调控的，滋养外胚层是所有滋养细胞的前体。胎盘和子宫内膜之间存在双向通讯，导致蜕膜化，这是维持妊娠的关键步骤。胎盘、母体免疫细胞和子宫内膜之间存在三向相互作用，以使子宫内膜免疫系统适应同种异体胎儿。虽然 65%的全身表达的人类蛋白已在胎盘组织中发现，但它还表达许多胎盘特异性蛋白，其表达在妊娠疾病中发生显著变化，并可作为妊娠疾病早期检测的生物标志物。令人惊讶的是，胎盘发生和肿瘤发生在代谢和细胞行为、蛋白质和分子特征、信号通路以及组织微环境方面表现出许多共同特征，这提出了“肿瘤作为异位滋养细胞”的概念。通过对这个新领域的广泛研究，已经发现了一些癌症生物标志物。这篇综述论文部分受到我们过去几年的广泛经验的启发，强调了胎盘功能的新方面，重点是其在成功妊娠建立中的免疫调节作用以及胎盘发生和肿瘤发生之间的潜在联系。
