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Human reproduction is the most dynamic of processes. The events which lead to the birth of a normal healthy infant have their origin long before actual fertilization. Indeed, the whole process can be looked upon as a continuum. Human fertilization and early development, once sequestered in the protective environment of the fallopian tubes and uterus, have now been exposed in the laboratory. These events have, over time, been extensively observed and catalogued in animal models. The tools of modem morphology and molecular biology have reopened issues long since considered settled as facets of early reproduction are reexplored. This volume, consisting of the proceedings of a workshop on uterine and embryonic factors in early pregnancy, has been designed to enhance that effort. Attention is focused largely on early embryonal development with special attention to the interrelationship between the embryo and the uterus in early pregnancy. Each of the contributing scientists brings with him or her the perspective of one specific discipline or another. The common denominator is the application of emerging techniques in modem molecular biology to problems pertaining to embryonal-uterine interaction. The goal is to consider specific areas of concern in a multidisciplinary way and to reexplore the factors behind early development and implantation. Uterine complement, the function of uterine macrophages immunoregulatory loops in the peri-implantation period, colony stimulating factors and interferon-like factors are reviewed and their interrelationship explored. Uterine angiogenesis factors as well as embryonic growth factors are also considered.
List of contents
Oviductal Recognition of Embryonic Signals.- Effect of Progesterone Antagonists on Ovo-Endometrial Interactions.- On the Requirement for Estrogen for Establishing Pregnancy in the Non-Human Primate.- Embryonic Loss and Conceptus Interferon Production.- InVitro Models of Implantation.- Uterine EGF Ligand-Receptor Signalling and its Role in Embryo-Uterine Interactions During Implantation in the Mouse.- Human Uterine Angiogenic Factor (HUAF).- The Role of Lymphohematopoietic Cytokines in Signalling Between the Immune and Reproductive Systems.- Human Decidual Function in Trophoblast and Uterine Interaction.- Cytokines at the Maternal Fetal Interface: Colony Stimulating Factor-1 as a Paradigm for the Maternal Regulation of Pregnancy.- Uterine Macrophages and their Function in Implantation of Muridae Rodents.- Hormonal Regulation of Uterine Complement.- Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins: A Paradigm for Conceptus-Maternal Interactions in the Primate.- The Roles of Growth Factors and Their Receptors in Peri-Implantation Mouse Embryos and at the Embryomatemal Interface.- Ligands and Receptors of the Insulin Family: Role in Early Mammalian Development.- Does Human Syncytiotrophoblast Express the M-CSF Receptor/ C-fms Protein Product?.- Oncogenes in Development: C-FOS and EGR-1 Studies in Embryonal Carcinoma Cells.- The Molecular and Cellular Biology of Growth Stimulatory Pathways During Human Placental Development.- Growth Factors in Placental Function.- Human Trophoblast Differentiation.- Production and Putative Roles of Inhibins and Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in Human Placenta and Decidua.- The Influence of the Uterine Environment on Human Preimplantation Development.- Participants.
Summary
Proceedings of a workshop, held October 8-12, in Bellagio, Italy
