The aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily comprises enzymes that catalyze redox
transformations involved in biosynthesis, intermediary metabolism, and detoxification …

Mechanisms underlying the initiation of parturition remain unclear. Throughout most of
pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by elevated progesterone acting through …

Proper cervical function is essential for a normal pregnancy and birth to occur.
Understanding the mechanisms that take place in normal pregnancy will allow a better …

During pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by increased progesterone receptor
(PR) activity, but labor is facilitated by a series of events that impair PR function. Previously …

Term labour is a state of physiological inflammation orchestrated by multiple uterine tissues
(both fetal and maternal). This physiological inflammation preceding and accompanying …

The steroid hormones progesterone (P4) and estradiol-17β (E2), produced by the placenta
in humans and the ovaries in rodents, serve crucial roles in the maintenance of pregnancy …

Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) have diverse functions that regulate macromolecular assembly
in the extracellular matrix. During pregnancy, the rigid cervix transforms to a pliable structure …

Our understanding of the intracrine (or local) regulation of estrogen and other steroid
synthesis and degradation expanded in the last decades, also thanks to recent …

The maintenance of myometrial quiescence and initiation of contractility, which lead to
parturition at term and preterm, involve a shifting equilibrium between anti-inflammatory and …

The molecular mechanisms that maintain quiescence of the myometrium throughout most of
pregnancy and promote its transformation to a highly coordinated contractile unit …