Life's First Hurdle

For a successful pregnancy, there are thousands of steps that need to go right, but one of the earliest hurdles is embryo implantation where the fertilised egg needs to grab onto the lining of the uterus so it can start to adapt for pregnancy. Any mistakes in this process result in a failed pregnancy. In fact, approximately 75% of failed pregnancies are linked to defects in this implantation stage, and unfortunately, we know little about how this process works. Shp2 is a protein that becomes increasingly abundant as embryos implant into the uterine lining. Researchers discovered in mice that a lack of Shp2 (bottom row) resulted in a smaller size of implantation site (the central circular shape), which ultimately meant that the embryo couldn’t survive. For women who suffer from recurring early pregnancy loss, Shp2 may be a critical target to not only more effectively diagnose but also treat those with infertility issues.

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from work by Jianghong Cheng, Jia Liang and Yingzhe Li, and colleagues
• School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Genetics, January 2022