PROJECT

The recognition and maintenance of pregnancy is an interesting immunological paradox. Under physiological conditions, the embryo(s) is semi-allogeneic to the mother since it contains paternal genetic material and, therefore, produces proteins that are unknown to the maternal immune system. Although immune maternal recognition of the semi-allogeneic embryo occurs, the maternal immune system is locally down-regulated, at least in humans, which favors embryo implantation. Our starting hypothesis is that these regulatory mechanisms of the maternal immune response to the embryo may be more complex and less efficient in the case of ET pregnancies, where the transferred embryos are allogeneic (they contain both paternal and maternal material).
different from the recipient female), jeopardizing the ability of many of these embryos to develop to term.