Modulating impact of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone on the maturation and function of hematopoietic cells.

hCG hormone is a naturally occurring, immune-modulating agent, which is highly expressed during pregnancy and causes improvements of some autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. Little is known about its immune-modulating effects. This study in MNCs of women who received hCG as preconditioning prior to IVF demonstrates that hCG increases anti-inflammatory IL-27 expression and reduces inflammatory IL-17 expression.

Interleukin-1 system in the human fallopian tube-No spatial but a temporal regulation of mRNA and protein expression.

The human fallopian tube provides the environment for the first 5 days of embryonic development in vivo. The IL-1 system is involved in human embryo implantation. This study aimed to investigate IL-1beta, IL-1ra and IL-1R tI expression within the length of the human fallopian tube on mRNA- and protein-level in samples from proliferative versus secretory phase, postmenopause (PMP) samples and samples from intra- (IUP) and extrauterine pregnancies (EUP) to examine possible spatial and hormonal induced changes (fimbrial, ampullary and isthmic tube segments).

Expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor neuropilin-1 in the human endometrium.

Angiogenesis is a key process in the endometrium which undergoes dramatic changes during the menstrual cycle. Molecules such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), acting via two tyrosine kinase family receptors (VEGFR1 [Flt-1] and VEGFR2 [KDR/Flk-1]), are potent modulators of angiogenesis and vascular remodelling in the endometrium. Recently, neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) was shown to be expressed in endothelial cells binding VEGF(165) and therewith enhancing the binding of VEGF(165) to VEGFR2.

Differential expression of angiopoietins 1 and 2 and their receptor Tie-2 in human endometrium.

Angiogenesis, the growth of new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels, is a physiological process involved in both normal menstrual cycling and implantation of the embryo. So far, very little is known about the expression of angiopoietins, growth factors involved in angiogenesis, in human endometrium. Both angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) are ligands for the endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinase Tie-2.