ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the pregnancy-related proteins which have been detected by immunochemical and physico-chemical methods. During the 1960s, a number of proteins with a- or ß-electrophoretic mobility have been described in placental extracts or in sera from pregnant women with the help of newly developed immunochemical technique. Fetal proteins are synthesized by the fetus and occur predominantly in the fetal circulation. In some disorders of the fetus, the AFP level of the amniotic fluid or maternal serum increases so markedly that the estimation of AFP has become important in the prenatal diagnosis of certain disorders such as neural-tube defects, congenital nephrosis, and some severe conditions leading to intrauterine fetal death. The fetal antigens FA-1 and FA-2 have recently been detected by Fay et al. with use of immunochemical methods. Antibodies to these proteins were first obtained by immunizing rabbits with amniotic fluid fractions.
