Skip to main content
. 2020 Jun 15;10:9666. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66554-0

Figure 3.

Figure 3

α2M* induces cell fusion through membrane GRP78 interaction. a-b. BeWo cells were seeded for 24 h prior to treatment with or without 20 µM Forskolin (FSK) in the presence or not of 100 pM of α2M* for 48 h. (A) Nuclei and syncytia were counted, and a fusion index was calculated. n = 3. Data represented as mean±SEM. ns (not significant), **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.005, ****P ≤ 0.001; ANOVA comparison test. The cell membrane was stained with anti-desmoplakin antibodies and nuclei with haematoxylin prior to visualisation under inverted microscopy. Syncytia delineated in yellow. (B) hCG levels were quantified and normalised to the corresponding total protein content. n = 3. Data represented as mean±SEM. ns (not significant); t-test comparison test c. BeWo cells were seeded for 24 h prior to treatment with 20 µM Forskolin (FSK), 100 pM of α2M* and 3 µg/mL of anti-GRP78 antibody or isotypic control rabbit IgG antibody for 48 h. Nuclei and syncytia were counted, and a fusion index was calculated. n = 3. Data represented as mean±SEM. ns (not significant), **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.005; ANOVA comparison test. The cell membrane was stained with anti-desmoplakin antibodies and nuclei stained with haematoxylin prior to visualisation under inverted microscopy. Syncytia delineated in yellow.