Cytokines in the oviparity/viviparity transition: evidence of the interleukin-1 system in a species with reproductive bimodality, the lizard Lacerta vivipara.

Placental viviparity is a reproductive strategy usually attributed to mammals. However, it is also present in other vertebrate species, e.g.

Variation in macrophage-migration-inhibitory-factor immunoreactivity during porcine gestation.

The localization and activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was investigated in the interhemal region of the noninvasive, diffuse, folded epitheliochorial placenta and in the nonpregnant uterus of the pig. MIF, a proinflammatory cytokine with many actions on macrophages and monocytes, may play an important role in materno-fetal immuno-tolerance during placental establishment, modulation, and growth. Immunohistochemical staining with anti-human MIF polyclonal antibodies was carried out on placental sections from 11 stages of gestation (16-95 days postcoitus) and on nonpregnant uterus at 13 days postestrus.

Potential role of interleukin-1 at the peri-ovulation stage in a species of placental viviparous reptile, the three-toed skink, Chalcides chalcides (Squamata: Scincidae).

We recently showed that interleukin-1 (IL-1) is secreted by the placenta of a species of squamate reptile, the three-toed skink, Chalcides chalcides. In this study, we used immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the expression of IL-1 (in the two isoforms, IL-1alpha and IL-1beta) and its specific membrane receptor IL-1 RtI in uterine oviduct during the peri-implantation period. We found that both IL-1 and its receptor were expressed in uterine tissues before and after ovulation (in the pre-ovulatory stage, even before the yolk had formed in the ovary).

Glycosylation of the materno-foetal interface in the pregnant viviparous placentotrophic lizard Chalcides chalcides: a lectin histochemical study.

Glycosylation of the foeto-maternal interface of the skink Chalcides chalcides has been examined at various stages of gestation using lectin histochemistry. Specimens of incubatory chamber or placenta from early, mid-, late- and near-term pregnancy were fixed and embedded in epoxy resin. Areas of foeto-maternal apposition were probed with a panel of biotinylated lectins followed by an avidin-peroxidase revealing system to identify various classes of glycan at the interface.

The interleukin 1 (IL-1) system in the uteroplacental complex of a cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus canis.

Cartilaginous fish are the oldest extant jawed vertebrates and the oldest line to have placentae. Their pivotal evolutionary position makes them attractive models to investigate the mechanisms involved in the maternal-fetal interaction. This study describes the tissue expression of the cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) alpha, IL-1 beta and its specific membrane receptor, IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1R tI) in a placental cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus canis.