Skip to main content
. 2023 May 12;11:1167097. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1167097

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

Increasing concentrations of metformin impair biochemical syncytialization. Forty-eight hours following treatment of BeWo cells with DMSO (0.4%) or 40 µM forskolin (FSK) in the presence of vehicle, Metformin 200 μM, or Metformin 2000 μM, we assessed: (A) Production of HCG quantified by ELISA. n = 6 biologic replicates. (B–G) Relative gene expression by qPCR: (B) CGA, (C) CGB2 (D) HSD11B2 (E) EFVW-1 (F) ERVFRD-1 (G) OVOL1. n = 4 biological replicates. Data are representative of mean ± SEM. (I) Representative images of nuclear (DAPI, blue), cell membrane (E-cadherin, green), and HCG (magenta) stained BeWo cells treated for 48 h with DMSO or forskolin (FSK) in the presence of vehicle, Metformin 200 μM, or Metformin 2000 µM. Scale bar represents 50 micron. (H) Quantification of fusion index (number of nuclei in syncytia divided by total number of nuclei). n = 6 biologic replicates and 3 fields of view from each replicate. Data are representative of the mean ± SEM. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001; and ****, p < 0.0001.