Article
Syncytin-A knockout mice demonstrate the critical role in placentation of a fusogenic, endogenous retrovirus-derived, envelope gene.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - 21 Jul 2009
Dupressoir Anne, Vernochet Cécile, Bawa Olivia, Harper Francis, Pierron Gérard, Opolon Paule, Heidmann Thierry
Abstract excerpt
In most mammalian species, a key process of placenta development is the fusion of trophoblast cells into a highly specialized, multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast layer, through which most of the maternofetal exchanges take place. Little is known about this process, despite the recent identification of 2 pairs of envelope genes of retroviral origin, independently acquired by the human (syncytin-1 and syncytin-2)...
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