Modeling the human maternal-fetal interface

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Stem Cell Research
• Reproductive Medicine

Background:

• Stem cells and organoids offer powerful in vitro tools for studying human development.
• Current models often focus on individual components (endometrium, placenta, embryo) rather than their integrated interactions.
• Studying maternal-fetal interactions in vitro is crucial for understanding early human development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current in vitro models of the maternal-fetal interface.
• To identify key challenges in integrating endometrial, placental, and embryonic models.
• To propose a new perspective for advancing research on intrauterine development.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing in vitro models.
• Analysis of challenges in model integration: complexity, coordination, and benchmarking.
• Discussion of interdisciplinary approaches and future prospects.

Main Results:

• Existing in vitro models face hurdles in achieving morpho-functional complexity and spatiotemporal coordination.
• Benchmarking against in vivo development is critical but challenging.
• A shift towards modeling 'building interactions' over 'building blocks' is proposed.

Conclusions:

• Integrating endometrial, placental, and embryonic models in vitro remains a significant challenge.
• Overcoming these challenges requires an interdisciplinary approach focused on interactions.
• Advancing mechanistic understanding of the maternal-fetal interface is essential for future research.