Pregnancy Rejection Induced by Neuraminidase-Treated Placental Cells

Abstract

Neuraminidase-treated trophoblastic cells prepared from placentas obtained from C3H female mice mated with DBA/2 males were s.c. injected into C3H females once a week for 4 weeks. Ten days after the last injection, the animals were mated with DBA/2 males and the subsequent pregnancies were observed. Since inoculation reduces the number of litters and increases the frequency of abortions it may be suggested that the removal of sialic acid from the trophoblastic cell surfaces allows these cells or their glycoprotein coat to become antigenically active. The histological findings also corroborate the immunological nature of the results here described.