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Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on June 4, 2004
Molecular Human Reproduction 2004 10(8):581-588; doi:10.1093/molehr/gah070
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Molecular Human Reproduction vol. 10 no. 8 © European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 2004; all rights reserved

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Endogenous retroviral syncytin: compilation of experimental research on syncytin and its possible role in normal and disturbed human placentogenesis

I. Knerr1,4, B. Huppertz3, C. Weigel1, J. Dötsch1, C. Wich1, R.L. Schild2, M.W. Beckmann2 and W. Rascher1

1University Children's Hospital and 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen and 3Department of Anatomy, University Hospital, Aachen, Germany

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Klinik mit Poliklinik für Kinder und Jugendliche, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loschgestr. 15, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany. Email: ina.knerr{at}kinder.imed.uni-erlangen.de

Placental syncytin was first described in the year 2000 as a fusogenic glycoprotein originally derived from a human endogenous retroviral envelope gene. Although the presence of stable integrated retroviral elements within the human genome has been known for many years, their biological significance is still obscure and has usually been designated as irrelevant or even harmful. Syncytin, however, demonstrates tissue-specific expression and distinctive receptor interaction during trophoblast cell differentiation and syncytium formation. These findings indicate an involvement of syncytin in the development of the human placenta. Disturbances in placental architecture leading to severe placental dysfunction, such as pre-eclampsia, may therefore be discussed as a consequence of an altered syncytin system. We evaluate the hypothesis that syncytin is essential for human placenta formation and may also have played an important role in human placental evolution.

Key words: ASCT2/human endogenous retrovirus/placenta/syncytin/syncytiotrophoblast


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Y.-H. Cheng and S. Handwerger
A Placenta-Specific Enhancer of the Human Syncytin Gene
Biol Reprod, September 1, 2005; 73(3): 500 - 509.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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