Figure 11

Junctional region and decidua at limb bud stage (A-B) and 70 days of gestation (C-D). (A) At the limb bud stage maternal vessels in the decidua retain most of their endothelium. There is, however, intrusion of a trophoblast giant cell into the decidua subjacent to the vessel wall. TEM (B) Immunostaining for actin confirms that vessel architecture is largely intact. (C) Immunostaining for cytokeratin at 70 days reveals the presence of trophoblast cells in the vessel walls and surrounding decidua. These include giant cells, large cells (arrows) and smaller cells. (D) Immunostaining for vimentin shows a discontinuous vessel endothelium. Decidual cells also are vimentin positive. End = endothelium, tgc = trophoblast giant cell. Scale bars 10 μm (A), 40 μm (B-D).