Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Decidualisation occurs in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, transforming endometrial stromal cells to secretory decidual stromal cells (DSC). Extensive cross-talk occurs between DSC and immune cells. In the first trimester of pregnancy the decidua is rich with maternal leukocytes, made up of ~70% NK cells and ~20% macrophages. The number of NK and macrophage cells increases during decidualisation and into the first trimester of pregnancy. Decidual NK (d...

Introduction: Large within-litter variation in pig foetal weight may be associated with placental efficiency. Integrin receptors, including AVB6, are present at the attachment site between the foetal and uterine epithelium and may affect the efficiency of attachment. It is hypothesised that the expression of integrin receptors would differ between tissues supplying small foetuses compared to normal-sized littermates. This study compared the distribution and quantity of integri...

Introduction: Differentiation of the embryoblast and trophoblast cell lineages is an ontogenetic milestone in preimplantation embryo development. Both cell lineages are supplied with nutrients from uterine secretions, reflecting an ultrafiltrate of maternal plasma. We have recently shown that an insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus leads to maternal hyperlipidaemia and to a strong increase in intracellular lipids in trophoblast and, especially, embryoblast cells in rabbit blast...

Introduction: Normal function of the placenta, an essential conduit between mother and fetus, is crucial for a healthy pregnancy. Placental molecular transporters play essential gatekeeping roles, regulating the exchange of nutrients, gases, hormones and diverse molecules between the mother and developing fetus. Expression of some transporters change throughout pregnancy, which may alter fetal sensitivity to maternally-derived nutritional compounds, environmental contaminants ...

Introduction: The human placenta continuously extrudes, into the maternal circulation, vast quantities of extracellular vesicles (EVs) which have the ability to alter maternal physiology. There are three sizes of placental EVs multinucleated macro-EVs, subcellular micro- and nano- EVs. Macro-EVs are trapped in the maternal lungs due to their large size. We investigated the organs with which micro- and nano- EVs interact in vivo and their potential effects EVs on vascular funct...

Introduction: The interdisciplinary field of microrobotics recently sparked interest especially in potential applications of mobile microscale devices that can operate remotely-controlled inside the human body. This study presents an approach towards such an application, namely assisted reproduction with the help of tiny sperm carriers, so-called spermbots. Spermbots are synthetic tubes or helices that couple to single sperm cells and assist their movement by providing guidanc...