The origin and future of placental bed research

Insights into the structural and functional relationships between maternal and fetal circulations in the human placenta require an understanding of trophoblast invasive behaviour in the uterine wall. The concept of physiologically changed spiral arteries, and the discovery of the restriction of this vascular adaptation in pre-eclamptic pregnancies, are two outstanding contributions of Professor Brosens to this field. His findings inspired different lines of research concerning regulatory mechanisms of trophoblast invasion, which eventually may have wider implications in the fields of cancerology, immunology and reproductive medicine.