The physiological immunomodulatory effects of chemokines during the implantation window and early pregnancy: implications in recurrent spontaneous abortions

L. FRACCAROLI; J. ALFIERI; C. PÉREZ LEIRÓS; R. RAMHORST

Frontiers in Bioscience

Landmark Edition

Año: 2009 p. 288 - 298

1945-0494

It is known that successful implantation requires a functionally normal embryo at the blastocyst stage and a receptive endometrium as well as adequate communication between the two throughout the implantation process. This communication or cross-talk is highly regulated by a number of different kinds of molecules. The accumulated evidence now suggests that chemokines---small polypeptides that attract specific leukocyte subsets by binding to cell-surface receptors--- are also required to maintain immune-privileged sites as the feto-maternal interface. As it is speculated that the expression of chemokines involves an interdependent network with the absence of a single chemokine affecting the expression of multiple other chemokines, we have chosen to focus on just two representative examples: RANTES (regulated on normal T cell expressed and secreted) and MCP-1 (Monocyte chemo-attractant protein). In this report we present updated information on the expression levels of these two chemokines and their regulation by progesterone and paternal allo-antigens on three different levels: 1) systemic effects on maternal allogeneic response; 2) local effects on endometrial cells and on endometrial infiltrated T lymphocytes; and 3) during an early stage of the feto-maternal dialogue. For each of the three levels, we analyzed data from both fertile women and patients having experienced recurrent spontaneous abortions as representative of physiological and pathological situations respectively.