A model of xenogeneic fetus pregnancy by the placenta replacement method

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14367
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Laboratory animal science
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Isotani Ayako 大阪大学, 免疫学フロンティア研究センター, 特任准教授 (20444523)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): IKAWA Masahito 大阪大学, 微生物研究所, 教授 (20304066) ; OKABE Masaru 大阪大学, 微生物病研究所, 名誉教授 (30089875)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 実験動物 / 胎盤 / 異種 / 妊娠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In mammals, the fetus develops and grows in the body of the mother during pregnancy. The pregnant mother has immune tolerance to the fetus. Thus, even if the fetus is genetically different from the mother, allogeneic transplantation can succeed. However, in case of xenogeneic transplantation, pregnancy cannot be achieved. On the other hand, the combination of a placenta and a pregnant mother’s genotype is considered to be a critical factor for the success of xenogeneic chimeras.
In this study, to establish a model of xenogeneic fetus pregnancy, we replaced the placenta of rat embryos with that of mice and transplanted the embryos into pseudopregnant mice. Although the placenta-replaced rat embryos survived at 10.5 dpc, they were aborted at 12.5 dpc. This suggests that there is a xeno-recognition mechanism not only between the placenta and mother but also between the placenta and fetus.

Free Research Field

実験動物学