The delicate balance between embryo invasion and suppression of maternal immune rejection requires a fully functional decidua in species with haemochorial placenta. Our understanding of the decidual function is very limited due to the molecular and cellular complexity involved in decidualisation. The cell adhesion molecule α_vβ₃ integrin and its ligand vitronectin are upregulated in the mouse decidua during mid-pregnancy. The implications of interactions between α_vβ₃ and vitronectin in regulating decidual function are not known. In the present study, interactions between α_vβ₃ and vitronectin in the decidual cells of the mouse were blocked in vitro and effects on cell fate were evaluated by studying the differentially regulated genes by cDNA array and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results indicate that expression of various genes involved in apoptotic and cell cycle pathways, as well as cytokine receptors, was deranged. Signalling through α_vβ₃ seems to be important to maintain a balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis, along with the modulation of inflammatory responses of decidual cells.