Skip Navigation



Human Reproduction Update Advance Access published online on August 27, 2004
Human Reproduction Update, doi:10.1093/humupd/dmh039
Copyright © 2004 by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
10/6/487    most recent
dmh039v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pötgens, A.J.G.
Right arrow Articles by Kaufmann, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pötgens, A.J.G.
Right arrow Articles by Kaufmann, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Received May 28, 2004
Accepted August 4, 2004

Review

Syncytin: the major regulator of trophoblast fusion? Recent developments and hypotheses on its action

A.J.G. Pötgens 1*, S. Drewlo 1, M. Kokozidou 1, P. Kaufmann 1

1 Department of Anatomy II, University Hospital Aachen, Wendlingweg 2, D-52057 Aachen, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: apotgens{at}ukaachen.de.


  Abstract

Syncytin is a membrane protein derived from the envelope gene of an endogenous retrovirus of the HERV-W family. The gene appears to be almost exclusively expressed in placenta; the protein was found in particular in syncytiotrophoblast. After transfection into various cell types it has proven to be a very fusogenic protein, inducing the formation of syncytia. Therefore, the question rises as to whether syncytin is responsible for the fusion process of villous cytotrophoblast into syncytiotrophoblast in vivo. If so, how is this fusion process regulated if syncytin is found all over the syncytiotrophoblast? Can this process be regulated through local or temporal changes in syncytin expression, or is syncytin merely one factor in a cascade of events leading to fusion limited at some other level? This review will try to summarize the published data on the regulation of fusion in trophoblast models as well as on the localization and regulation of syncytin expression and of its presumed receptors. Assuming that syncytin is the key factor inducing trophoblast fusion, a number of models will be presented by which syncytin and/or its receptors might regulate this process. In some of the hypotheses proposed, local coexpression of syncytin and receptor, leading to blocking of one factor by the other, is of functional relevance.

Keywords: cell-cell fusion; HERV-W; retrovirus receptor type D; syncytin; trophoblast.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JCBHome page
K. V. Pajcini, J. H. Pomerantz, O. Alkan, R. Doyonnas, and H. M. Blau
Myoblasts and macrophages share molecular components that contribute to cell-cell fusion
J. Cell Biol., March 5, 2008; 180(5): 1005 - 1019.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
X. Peng, J. Pan, R. Gong, Y. Liu, S. Kang, H. Feng, G. Qiu, D. Guo, P. Tien, and G. Xiao
Functional Characterization of Syncytin-A, a Newly Murine Endogenous Virus Envelope Protein: IMPLICATION FOR ITS FUSION MECHANISM
J. Biol. Chem., January 5, 2007; 282(1): 381 - 389.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Gen. Virol.Home page
A. Muir, A. M. L. Lever, and A. Moffett
Human endogenous retrovirus-W envelope (syncytin) is expressed in both villous and extravillous trophoblast populations
J. Gen. Virol., July 1, 2006; 87(7): 2067 - 2071.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Reprod.Home page
P.A. Elustondo, G.E. Hannigan, I. Caniggia, and D.J. MacPhee
Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) Is Highly Expressed in First Trimester Human Chorionic Villi and Regulates Migration of a Human Cytotrophoblast-Derived Cell Line
Biol Reprod, May 1, 2006; 74(5): 959 - 968.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol. Cell. Biol.Home page
C.-W. Chang, H.-C. Chuang, C. Yu, T.-P. Yao, and H. Chen
Stimulation of GCMa Transcriptional Activity by Cyclic AMP/Protein Kinase A Signaling Is Attributed to CBP-Mediated Acetylation of GCMa
Mol. Cell. Biol., October 1, 2005; 25(19): 8401 - 8414.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.