File talk:Human uterine tube ciliated epithelium SEM.jpg
Uterine receptivity and the plasma membrane transformation
Cell Res. 2004 Aug;14(4):259-67.
Murphy CR. Source Department of Anatomy and Histology, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. histology@anatomy.usyd.edu.au Abstract This review begins with a brief commentary on the diversity of placentation mechanisms, and then goes on to examine the extensive alterations which occur in the plasma membrane of uterine epithelial cells during early pregnancy across species. Ultrastructural, biochemical and more general morphological data reveal that strikingly common phenomena occur in this plasma membrane during early pregnancy despite the diversity of placental types--from epitheliochorial to hemochorial, which ultimately form in different species. To encapsulate the concept that common morphological and molecular alterations occur across species, that they are found basolaterally as well as apically, and that moreover they are an ongoing process during much of early pregnancy, not just an event at the time attachment, the term 'plasma membrane transformation' is suggested which also emphasises that alterations in this plasma membrane during early pregnancy are key to uterine receptivity.
Rodent
- progesterone alone - short regular microvilli
- oestrogen alone - long thin regular microvilli
Human
- human 'pinopodes' do not have a significant pinocytotic function
- suggested that the human structures be referred to as 'uterodomes'
- represent a transformation of a microvillous plasma membrane into a smooth and flattened plasma membrane (bulging one)
PMID 15353123
Cytoskeletal alterations in the microvilli of uterine epithelial cells during early pregnancy
Acta Histochem. 1989;87(2):131-6.
Luxford KA, Murphy CR. Source Department of Histology and Embryology, University of Sydney, Australia. Abstract We have studied the arrangement of microfilaments in uterine microvilli during early pregnancy, using transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy. Observations indicate that changes in actin microfilament organization occur in association with the alterations to the uterine cell surface which precede blastocyst implantation. We consider these findings with reference to the possible mechanisms involved.
PMID 2516678
