About this Research Topic
Nowadays, Medawar’s paradox has been modified as we explore species variation in the anatomy of the placenta between mother and foetus, the timing of gene expression during foetal development and try to elucidate how the maternal immune system promotes successful pregnancy outcomes, rather than preventing them. Sixty years have passed since the Nobel Prize and while his original hypotheses about mechanism have been modified, many aspects of fetomaternal immune tolerance remain puzzling questions. What signals trigger immune rejection in some pregnancies but not others? Does the placenta drive the specialization of maternal immune cells once they have entered the maternal-fetal interface? What are the functions of maternal immune cell subsets throughout gestation?
Despite the continuous research efforts in answering these questions, clinical reproductive immunology has remained disproportionally stagnated over the last two decades. The main reason appears to stem from an insufficient acknowledgement of the centrality of maternal immune tolerance in determining successful outcomes. For instance, while the past few years have delivered a plethora of studies in animal models addressing the question of maternal immune adaptations to pregnancy, results from basic research appear to be frustrated in their potential application to clinical practice or made difficult by species variation.
In an attempt to shed light into the above-mentioned questions, this Research Topic aims to present state-of-the-art works covering basic and clinical aspects of Reproductive Immunology. We particularly welcome Review articles and appealing subjects include (but are not limited to):
• Classical and novel mediators of maternal fetal immune crosstalk: hormones, cytokines, microRNAs, extracellular vesicles
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in trophoblast - immune cell crosstalk
• Modulation of host-microbial interactions in pregnant women and their influence on pregnancy outcome
• Dysregulation of fetomaternal tolerance and its consequences on pregnancy outcomes and offspring health in later life
• Application of -omics approaches to the study of fetomaternal immune interactions and their potential for diagnosis and treatment of adverse outcomes.
Keywords: Reproductive Immunology, Pregnancy, Fetomaternal Immune Tolerance, Sir Peter Medawar
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.