Pregnancy and the Prolactin Family of Hormones: Coordination of Anterior Pituitary, Uterine, and Placental Expression*

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Abstract
I. Introduction SPECIALIZED strategies have evolved for controlling embryonic development. In oviparous species, development of the embryo is dependent upon regulatory factors contained within the egg, whereas embryonic development in mammalian species and some nonmammalian species, viviparity, is more complex, requiring regulatory factors arising from maternal, extraembryonic, and embryonic tissues. Successful maturation of the mammalian embryo is largely dependent upon the functioning of a specialized extraembryonic tissue of pregnancy, the placenta. The placenta is a tissue that develops in concert with the embryo and enables the embryo to have access to and to control the availability of maternal resources. Several essential functions are performed by the placenta: 1) regulation of nutrient and waste transport between maternal and fetal compartments, 2) immunological modulation, preventing rejection of the genetically disparate embryo, and 3) transduction of fetal and maternal signals.

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