Immunobiological function of the syncytiotrophoblast: a new theory.

The main purpose of this paper is to present our hypothesis concerning the antigen-antibody complex formation and the resolution system inside the syncytiotrophoblast to explain immunologic fetomaternal relationships. This hypothesis, derived from the results of our experiments, might be an answer to why the fetus is not rejected by the mother, in contradistinction to other allografts. We also believe that this hypothesis makes important contributions to the explanation of the immunologic processes of cells, i.e., those processes which work against antigens inside a living body.