Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jun 21.
Published in final edited form as: Hypertension. 2010 Mar 29;55(5):1246–1253. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.110.150540

Figure 3. Autoantibody-induced placental damage can be prevented by TNF-α neutralization.

Figure 3

Placentas assessed by H&E staining (Panel A, 40X) indicate that PE-IgG injected mice had damaged placentas: calcifications (thin arrow) and fibrotic areas (thick arrow). Their labyrinth zones appear heterogeneous and have abnormal pools of blood (inset box). Placental apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL staining (Panel B, 10X, scale bar=1 mm). PE-IgG injected mice had increased apoptosis in their labyrinth zones as compared to NT-IgG injected animals. Quantification of the TUNEL assay (C) indicates a reduction in the TUNEL-positive cells in mice co-injected with PE-IgG and a TNF-α blocker as compared to the PE-IgG injected animals. n=18 placentas per variable, from 9 different mice in each group. Green; TUNEL-positive cells. Blue; DAPI-positive nuclei. Mice injected with NT-IgG or the anti-TNF-α antibody alone had unremarkable placentas. *P<0.05 versus NT-IgG. **P<0.05 versus PE-IgG.