Figure 1.

IFN inhibits fusion of BeWo trophoblasts stimulated by forskolin. BeWo cells were treated for 24 h with 40 units/ml IFNβ (IFN), 50 μm forskolin, a combination of IFN and forskolin, or vehicle control. Treated cells were analyzed by Western blotting of cell lysates (A) or confocal microscopy imaging (B) after staining with anti-E-cadherin (green) or DAPI (blue). White scale bar, 10 μm. C, fusion indices were calculated and normalized to the background spontaneous fusion level observed in each experiment in vehicle control cells. Bars, averages from three identical independent experiments with individual data points shown as circles; data are representative of two additional similar experiments. Error bars, S.D. Differences between groups were evaluated by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple-comparison test. *, p < 0.0005 for the indicated comparisons.