Knockdown of Bcor promotes syncytiotrophoblast differentiation of TSCs.
A–C, Bcor knockdown TSCs (shBcor-8 and shBcor-9) and control TSCs (shControl) were cultured in TS medium (A), TS+Ac10 medium (B), or TS medium plus 10 μm SB431542 (TS+SB10 medium) (C) to allow differentiation for 0, 2, 4, and 6 days before being harvested for qRT-PCR analysis of the syncytiotrophoblast markers Gcm1, Synb, and Cebpa. D and E, cells differentiated in TS medium for 4 days were harvested for anti-GCM1 immunostaining (D) and immunoblotting (E). Scale bar: 10 μm. Five fields of each sample were quantified for the ratio of GCM1-positive cells. Data are presented as mean ± S.E. (n = 3; ***, p < 0.001; **, p < 0.01; *, p < 0.05).