The expression and function of small stress proteins in uterine smooth muscle during pregnancy

子宫是女性器官，在怀孕期间容纳发育中的胎儿。这个器官含有一个平滑肌成分，称为子宫肌层，在怀孕期间，子宫肌层经历一个分化程序。大鼠已被很好地用作研究这种子宫肌层编程的动物模型。在大鼠妊娠期间，子宫肌层的特征在于收缩期、合成期、收缩期、分娩期和最后的产后复旧期。这些分化阶段中的每一个的特征在于肌肉细胞在分子和细胞水平上的变化。总的来说，整个过程的结果是产生一种组织，可以产生精确协调和强大的收缩（分娩），以确保足月胎儿的及时分娩，其器官系统足够成熟，可以在子宫外生存。

The uterus is a female organ that houses the developing fetus during pregnancy. This organ contains a smooth muscle component named the myometrium and during pregnancy the myometrium goes through a program of differentiation. The rat has been well utilized as an animal model to study this myometrial programming. During rat pregnancy the myometrium is characterized by a Proliferative Phase, a Synthetic Phase, a Contractile Phase, a Labour Phase, and lastly, a post-partum Involution Phase. Each one of these phases of differentiation is characterized by changes in the muscle cells at the molecular and cellular level. Overall, the consequence of this whole process is the production of a tissue that can generate precisely coordinated and powerful contractions (labour) to ensure the timely delivery of a term fetus whose organ systems are sufficiently mature for survival outside the uterus.