Fig. 4.

Gestational exposure to environmental stress activates mitophagy in placental trophoblasts. (A–F) Each pregnant mouse in Cd group received intraperitoneal injection of Cd on GD8. Each pregnant mouse in Ctrl group was treated with saline. n = 10–12 from 10 to 12 different pregnant mice. (A) Representative immunoblots of HSP60, COX IV and PGC1α proteins in placentae. (B–D) Quantification for HSP60, COX IV and PGC1α. (E) Representative immunofluorescent images of mouse placentas from NS and Cd groups. Arrows: co-localizations of TOM20 with LC3B. The Hoechst was used to tagged the nucleus. Scale bar: 20 μm. (F) Quantification for yellow dots per cell. (G–J) Human JEG-3 cells were incubated with Cd for 0, 2, 6 or 12 h (n = 3 per group). (G) Representative immunoblots of HSP60, COX IV and PGC1α proteins in the cells. (H–J) Quantification for HSP60, COX IV and PGC1α. (K–M) Human JEG-3 cells were pretreated using CQ before Cd stimulation (n = 3 per group). (K) Representative immunoblots of HSP60 and COX IV proteins in the cells. (L and M) Quantification for HSP60 and COX IV. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Multiple comparisons were performed using ANOVA. The post hoc test is executed adopting Bonferroni or Tamhane's T2 method following the result of homogeneity of variance test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus PBS/NS group, ^##P < 0.01 versus Cd group. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)