Leukemia inhibitory factor and interleukin-11: critical regulators in the establishment of pregnancy

Premila Paiva1, Ellen Menkhorst, Lois Salamonsen

  • 1Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research, 246, Clayton Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia. premila.paiva@princehenrys.org

Blastocyst implantation into a receptive endometrium is critical to the establishment of pregnancy and is tightly regulated by factors within the blastocyst-endometrial micro-environment. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and interleukin-11 (IL11) have key roles during implantation. Female mice with a null mutation in the LIF or IL11RA gene are infertile due to a complete failure of implantation or a defective differentiation/decidualization response to the implanting blastocyst, respectively. LIF and IL11 deficiency during pregnancy is associated with infertility and miscarriage in women. Numerous cell populations at the maternal-fetal interface are regulated by LIF/IL11 including the endometrial epithelium, decidualizing stroma, placental trophoblasts and leukocytes. This review focuses on the roles of LIF/IL11 during early pregnancy and highlights their potential as contraceptive targets and therapeutic agents for infertility.

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