Description
An important question for the use of the mouse as a model for studying human disease is the degree of functional conservation of genetic control pathways from human to mouse. The human placenta and mouse placenta show structural similarities but there has been no systematic attempt to assess their molecular similarities or differences. We built a comprehensive database of protein and microarray data for the highly vascular exchange region micro-dissected from the human and mouse placenta near-term. Abnormalities in this region are associated with two of the most common and serious complications of human pregnancy, maternal preeclampsia (PE) and fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), each disorder affecting ~5% of all pregnancies.