Effect of Neuraminidase on the Immunogenicity of Early Mouse Trophoblast

Abstract

ATTEMPTS to demonstrate the antigenicity of mouse trophoblast^1,2 using conventional transplantation techniques have led to the commonly held assumption that trophoblast owes its privileged immunological position to an intrinsic deficit of transplantation antigens. The results of this work could, however, be explained by the presence of an extracellular barrier, the so-called periplacental fibrinoid material³. This has been identified in the mouse as an electron-dense acidic mucoprotein layer, rich in sialic acid, which provides a continuous coating of the trophoblastic epithelium⁴.