Novel players in female fertility: The long pentraxin PTX3 and the chemokine decoy receptor D6

The foetal-maternal interaction results in the induction of a local inflammatory response and a state of systemic inflammation. Several factors are involved in successful embryonic implantation, including hormones, growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules, extracellular matrix components, and matrix-degrading enzymes. The enriched cytokine milieu associated to implantation is likely to control trophoblast migration and differentiation, leukocyte influx and activation, complement activation, as well as angiogenic and angiostatic processes in the implantation site. Finally, these mediators play a key role in tuning the immune responses to protect the foetus from infections as well as from maternal rejection. Here, the role of two new players involved in regulating inflammation at the maternal-foetal interface will be discussed: the long pentraxin PTX3 and the decoy receptor for inflammatory chemokines D6.