Figure 4.

Pharmacological concentration of MET suppressed overactive glycolysis in trophoblasts partly via inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling. (a) Double labeling the immunofluorescence analysis of PFKFB3 (red) protein expression and localization in the placentae from full-term normal pregnancies and preeclampsia patients. DAPI (blue) and CK7 (green) for trophoblast localization. Scale bar: 50 μm. (b, c) Western blot analysis of PFKFB3 protein expression and the densitometry quantification. (d) Extracellular lactate release determination. (e–g) Glycolysis and glycolysis capacity were both detected by ECAR assay. (h) Cellular ATP concentration determination. Data are shown as the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗P < 0.001 by Student's t-test. SD: standard deviation; NC-OE: negative vector; TLR4-OE: TLR4 overexpression plasmid.