FoxO1 in embryonic development.

Establishment of the maternal-fetal circulation during embryonic development is a fundamental process required for effective exchange of nutrients, waste products and signaling factors critical to all subsequent stages of fetal growth and development. Recent work has uncovered a previously unrecognized role of the transcription factor FoxO1 in the orchestration of molecular events underlying establishment of maternal-fetal circulatory interaction. These new data contribute to a larger body of literature implicating this protein in the governance of a wide array of processes during development and beyond.