How does a pregnant woman's body keep from rejecting a newly implanted embryo, with its share of paternal (and therefore foreign) genes? Part of the reason, an SIUC reproductive physiologist thinks, is that the embryo takes an active role in creating a favorable environment in the uterus.

Assistant professor Brent Bany has received a five-year, $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the biology of early pregnancy. Bany focuses on molecular interactions that take place in the brief time between the implantation of the embryo in the uterine wall and the development of the mature placenta. Researchers suspect that abnormalities at this juncture can cause fertility problems and may trigger later difficulties in pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, a life-threatening form of high blood pressure.

Based on some earlier research, Bany thinks the embryo, perhaps through hormonal signaling, triggers changes in the uterine lining. He will try to determine whether certain embryonic cells put some of the genes in the lining to work building new blood vessels and remodeling existing ones.

Bany also will study a special kind of white blood cell that plays a key role in the immune system. In a newly pregnant woman, large numbers of these cells flock to the embryo implantation site, where they change their appearance and function. Scientists are just beginning to understand their role, which seems to include altering blood vessels in the uterine lining.

Bany's work has shown that the young embryo can control the number of these cells and their development in the uterus—although, he says, "we don't know exactly how it does that." His basic research will point the way for future researchers hoping to better treat problem pregnancies.

—by K. C. Jaehnig, Media & Communication Resources