Renovating the Uterus in Early Pregnancy: the collab between immune cells and fetal cells, Conversation with Dr. Ashley Moffett, Part 2

One of the first things on an embryo's to-do list is to make a placenta, but to do this, it will need to work well with the decidual cells occupying the future Placenta construction site, otherwise known as the decidua or uterine lining that's beefed up for pregnancy.

There are likely many contributors to this process, but how this negotiation goes down between a specific set of immune cells called uterine natural killer cells, or uNK cells and the fetal cells from the embryo that set up the bridge between the mother's body and the placenta called the trophoblast cells, or EVTs is the subject of today's episode.

Also: why great obstetrical syndromes (preeclampsia, IUGR, stillbirth) is more of an issue for humans than other mammals.