Fig. 6.

Gestational exposure to environmental stress inhibits progesterone synthesis via BNIP3-dependent mitophagy in placental trophoblasts. (A–I) Human JEG-3 cells were pretreated with BNIP3 siRNA before Cd stimulation. (A) Progesterone in cell medium. (B) Representative immunoblots of CYP11A1 protein in the cells. (C) Quantification for CYP11A1. (D) Representative immunoblots of HSP60 and COX IV proteins in the cells. (E and F) Quantification for HSP60 and COX IV. (G) Representative immunoblots of LC3B-I/II and BNIP3 proteins in the cells. (H and I) Quantification for LC3B-II and BNIP3. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. n = 3 per group. 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 group, ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 versus Cd group.