About the Cover
Cover picture: During human pregnancy, fetal cells of the placenta use tumor-like mechanisms to invade the motheršs uterus. Placental cells within the uterine well (cytotrophoblasts) likely help the fetus avoid the immunological surveillance mechanisms that normally lead to rejection of allogeneic cells. Work by Drake et al. shows that these cytotrophoblasts produce chemokines that can induce the migration of leukocytes. In situ hybridization on tissue sections of the pregnant uterus showed that cytotrophoblasts produce monocyte inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha mRNA. In a bright field micrograph of a histological section stained with hematoxylin and eosin (top), clusters of placental cytotrophoblasts are seen in the uterine wall within a loose meshwork of extracellular matrix. In a dark field micrograph of the same section (bottom), white dots indicate signal from a 35S-labeled MIP-1alpha antisense probe. In vitro analyses showed that cytotrophoblast-derived MIP-1alpha participates in recruiting the unusual population of maternal leukocytes found in the uterine wall during human pregnancy. See related article in this issue by Drake et al., pp. 1199-1212.
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