HLA Expression at the Maternal-Fetal Interface

Pregnancy in the human presents an "immunological paradox," because of the unexpected willingness of mothers to accept genetically disparate tissues. The fact that the fetus can develop unharmed for nine months shows that protective mechanisms must exist to permit its survival. The conditions that permit the genetically dissimilar human fetus to evade rejection by its mother's immune system have been the subject of intense interest for several decades. As the placental cells, which are in contact with maternal blood or tissue, are devoid of HLA class II antigens, interest has focused on the expression of HLA class I molecules. Recent developments in the constitutive, transcriptional, and translational expression of HLA class I molecules on anatomically and morphologically different subpopulations of trophoblast cells will form the basis of this short review.