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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Isolation of Leukocytes from the Human Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Trophoblast L-selectin-mediated adhesion at the maternal-fetal interface
Olga D Genbacev1, Akraporn Prakobphol, Russell A Foulk
1Departments of Stomatology, Anatomy, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Abstract:
Trophoblast adhesion to the uterine wall is the requisite first step of implantation and, subsequently, placentation. At the maternal-fetal interface, we investigated the expression of selectin adhesion systems that enable leukocyte capture from the bloodstream. On the maternal side, human uterine epithelial cells up-regulated selectin oligosaccharide-based ligands during the window of receptivity. On the fetal side, human trophoblasts expressed L-selectin. This ligand-receptor system was functional, because beads coated with the selectin ligand 6-sulfo sLe(x) bound to trophoblasts, and trophoblasts bound to ligand-expressing uterine luminal epithelium in tissue sections. These results suggest that trophoblast L-selectin mediates interactions with the uterus and that this adhesion mechanism may be critical to establishing human pregnancy.
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