Bioscientifica Proceedings

Abstract. It was once thought that processes of conceptus implantation and placentation vary among mammalian species. However, physiological and biochemical processes including gene expression show more similarities than differences. In fact, recent progress has identified that in addition to the hormones, cytokines, proteases and cell adhesion molecules classically characterized, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), epigenetic regulation and the expressio...

Summary. The defining feature of ruminant placentation is the fusion of binucleate trophoblast cells with uterine epithelium. It was present in the last common ancestor of ruminants and the fusion process is facilitated by the products of endogenous retroviral genes called syncytins. It provides a mechanism to transfer placental hormones to maternal tissues. One of these hormones is placental lactogen, which likewise was present in the ancestral ruminant. An i...

Overview. One of the most fundamental axioms of mammalian reproduction is that pregnancy requires the support of progesterone without which it cannot be established or maintained. Though this basic physiological tenet was accepted long ago, major gaps in our understanding of the physiology of both pregnancy and parturition remain which hamper our ability to solve clinically and agriculturally significant problems such as low fertility, fetal growth restriction...