Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 6:1:10.54844/prm.2022.0104.
doi: 10.54844/prm.2022.0104. Epub 2022 Nov 28.

Fetal membrane at the feto-maternal interface: An underappreciated and understudied intrauterine tissue

Lauren Richardson  1 , Ramkumar Menon  1
Affiliations

Fetal membrane at the feto-maternal interface: An underappreciated and understudied intrauterine tissue

Lauren Richardson et al. Placenta Reprod Med. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Ramkumar Menon is an Editorial Board Member of the journal. The article was subject to the journal’s standard procedures, with peer review handled independently of this member and her research group.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Intrauterine and fetal membrane anatomy. (A) Within the intrauterine cavity, there are a variety of maternal (i.e., myometrium and cervix) and fetal (i.e., placenta, umbilical cord, and an amniotic cavity containing amniotic fluid, and the fetal membranes) derived organs that surround the fetus and contribute to pregnancy maintenance. The fetal membranes (black) line the cavity and are derived from multiple fetal cellular and collagen layers to form the feto-maternal interface. (B) The amnion epithelial cells (blue) are connected to the basement membrane (dark green) and compact layer (green dashes) of the extracellular matrix (ECM) forming an amniotic fluid-tight barrier. Within the first layer of the ECM (i.e., the fibrous layer), amnion mesenchymal cells (light purple) migrate and interact with the collagen environment. Separating the fibrous and reticular layers of the ECM is the spongy layer that separates the amnion (blue) and chorion (yellow) portions of the fetal membranes. The reticular layer of the ECM contains chorion mesenchymal cells (dark purple) that is connected to the pseudo-basement membrane of the chorion. The multi-layer of chorion trophoblast cells (yellow) forms the second epithelial layer of the fetal membranes and is critical for immune homeostasis. The fetal chorion layer is directly connected to the maternal decidua layer (green) forming the feto-maternal interface of the membranes. Resident immune cells predominantly live in the decidua layer but can migrate into the chorion and amnion layers if stimulated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Menon R, Moore JJ. Fetal membranes, not a mere appendage of the placenta, but a critical part of the fetal-maternal interface controlling parturition. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am 2020;47:147–162. - PubMed
    1. Menon R, Richardson LS, Lappas M. Fetal membrane architecture, aging and inflammation in pregnancy and parturition. Placenta 2019;79:40–45. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tantengco OAG, Richardson L, Lee A, Kammala A, Silva MC, Shahin H, et al. Histocompatibility antigen, class I, G (HLA-G)’s role during pregnancy and parturition: A systematic review of the literature. Life (Basel) 2021;11:1061. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Richardson LS, Menon PR, Menon R. The effects of extracellular matrix rigidity on 3-dimensional cultures of amnion membrane cells. Placenta 2020;90:82–89. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Richardson LS, Radnaa E, Urrabaz-Garza R, Lavu N, Menon R. Stretch, scratch, and stress: Suppressors and supporters of senescence in human fetal membranes. Placenta 2020;99:27–34. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources