Genes involved in implantation

Abstract

The endometrium is normally a hostile environment for an embryo, except for a short phase in each reproductive cycle known as the 'window of receptivity'. The precise molecular events involved in this transformation are not well understood. Application of state-of-the-art techniques of the 1990s has identified some of the genes involved, which are reviewed here. Mice with a null mutation in either the gene for leukemia inhibitory factor or the interleukin-11 receptor α chain are infertile, owing in both cases to a failure of embryo implantation. Both of these genes are expressed in the human endometrium with patterns suggesting a role in human fertility. The technique of RNA differential dis..