TERATOGENESIS AND AUTOIMMUNITY - POTENTIA L SIGNIFICANCE IN HUMAN PATHOLOGY OF A MURINE EXPERIMENTAL-MODEL

Fetal malformations constitute a major problem of public health. Unfor tunately the known causes do not account for more than 50 % of the cas es observed. The potential role of immune mechanisms is suggested by e xperimental studies in the rat indicating that antibodies reactive wit h the yolk sac induce fetal malformations. In this study we show that these antibodies are specific for a 280 kDa protein expressed only in the kidney and the yolk sac by cell structures associated with the for mation of endocytic vesicles. We further show that a similar protein i s expressed in man by the yolk sac, the kidney and the trophoblasts. T he possible role in pathology of antibodies against the human protein is discussed.