Fig. 1.

Schematic illustration of the relationship among syncytin-1, inflammation, and PE. Syncytin-1 participates in regulation of the four major factors contributing to local and systemic inflammation in PE patients: vascularization, hypoxia, immunity, and infection. The close and reciprocal relationship between vascularization and hypoxia as well as between infection and immune responses are indicated with the curved arrows. The major elements through which the four factors modulate inflammation are presented (Limited Uterine Blood Flow, NK Cell Change, etc). Syncytin-1 activation or inhibition of these elements, whenever supported by experimental results, are indicated by strait arrows. Detailed regulatory mechanisms are, respectively, described in the subtitled sections, with the important references listed in Table 1