Progesterone-induced blocking factor: from molecular biology to clinical medicine

Prokhorova O.V., Olina A.A., Tolibova G.Kh., Tral T.G.

1) Ural State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia, Yekaterinburg, Russia; 2) D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproduction, Saint Petersburg, Russia; 3) Academician E.A. Wagner Perm State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia, Perm, Russia
Pregnancy is a unique immunological situation when two allogeneic organisms live in close symbiosis without rejecting each other. Progesterone-induced blocking factor (PIBF) is a protein produced by activated lymphocytes in healthy pregnant women under the influence of progesterone. The specific immune tolerance of a mother to her fetus is known to be supported by several factors, which are the focus of current studies in the field of reproductive immunology. One of these factors is PIBF. It was originally discovered as a protein expressed by the peripheral lymphocytes in healthy pregnant women under the action of progesterone. PIBF performs immunomodulatory functions in vivo and in vitro, which are important for establishing maternal-fetal immune tolerance and therefore for the normal course of pregnancy. In recent years, several tumors producing PIBF have been identified; thus, it is possible to consider PIBF as a potential new tumor biomarker and to develop new therapeutic strategies in the future.
Conclusion. PIBF is a unique protein that is not present in normal cells, but it can be found primarily in fast-growing embryo tissues or cancer cells. This review presents the current views of the Russian and foreign scientists on progesterone-induced blocking factor and its role in reproduction and oncogenesis; the leading pathogenetic role of this factor in maintaining a normal pregnancy is demonstrated.

Keywords

progesterone
pregnancy
progesterone-induced blocking factor
reproduction
oncogenesis

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Received 12.05.2021

Accepted 18.05.2021

About the Authors

Olga V. Prokhorova, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ural State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia.
E-mail: prokhorova-ov@yandex.ru. ORCID: 0000-0002-9051-4528. 620014, Russia, Yekaterinburg, Repin str., 3.
Anna A. Olina, MD, PhD, DSci (Medicine), Professor, Deputy Director, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology,
Saint Petersburg, Russia; E.I. Vagner Perm State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia. E-mail: olina29@mail.ru. ORCID: 0000-0001-9101-7569.
199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3.
Gulrukhsor Kh. Tolibova, MD, DSci (Medicine), Head of Immunohystochemistry Laboratory, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology,
Saint Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: gulyatolibova@yandex.ru. ORCID: 0000-0002-6216-6220. 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3.
Tatyana G. Tral, MD, PhD, Pathologist, Head of Pathologic Laboratory, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology, Saint Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: ttg.tral@yandex.ru. ORCID: 0000-0001-8948-4811. 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3.

For citation: Prokhorova O.V., Olina A.A., Tolibova G.Kh., Tral T.G. Progesterone-induced blocking factor: from molecular biology to clinical medicine (literature review).
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiya / Obstetrics and gynecology. 2021; 5: 64-71 (in Russian)
https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/aig.2021.5.64-71

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