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Review: Epithelial aspects of human placental trophoblast
1Brasenose College, Oxford OX1 4DJ, UK. richard.boyd@dpag.ox.ac.uk
The placenta must act as a surrogate lung, gastrointestinal tract and kidney for the fetus as well as acting as an endocrine gland necessary for the maintenance of a successful pregnancy: to achieve this, to what extent does the trophoblast necessarily share a similar epithelial phenotype? Here I review from a historical and a contemporary perspective some relevant studies with an emphasis on the similarities and differences between small intestinal and trophoblast biology. Certain physiological, structural and cell biological similarities are striking.
The placenta must act as a surrogate lung, gastrointestinal tract and kidney for the fetus as well as acting as an endocrine gland necessary for the maintenance of a successful pregnancy: to achieve this, to what extent does the trophoblast necessarily share a similar epithelial phenotype? Here I review from a historical and a contemporary perspective some relevant studies with an emphasis on the similarities and differences between small intestinal and trophoblast biology. Certain physiological, structural and cell biological similarities are striking.
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