Fig. 5: PIEZO1-TMEM16F coupling regulates trophoblast fusion.

A Representative images of Ca²⁺ and PS exposure in WT (left) and TMEM16F KO (right) BeWo cells stimulated with 10 μM Yoda1. B Time course quantifications of Yoda1-induced PS exposure in WT (n = 25) and TMEM16F KO (n = 18) BeWo cells. C Representative images of Ca²⁺ and PS exposure in control (left) and PIEZO1 siRNA knockdown (right) BeWo cells stimulated with 10 μM Yoda1. D Time course quantifications of Yoda1-induced PS exposure control (n = 21) and PIEZO1 siRNA (n = 25) knockdown BeWo cells. E Representative images of TMEM16F KO BeWo overexpressed with empty vector and PIEZO1 after forskolin treatment for 48 h. F Fusion index quantification in WT (the same data in Fig. 4F) and TMEM16F KO BeWo cells, which were overexpressed with an empty vector or PIEZO1 (n = 8 each) after forskolin treatment for 48 hrs. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n.s. non-significant; ****P < 0.0001 (BeWo WT+ empty vs. BeWo WT+ Piezo1 WT: P = 0.000000028606201; BeWo WT+ empty vs. BeWo 16FKO+ empty, P = 0.000000000000011; BeWo WT+ empty vs. BeWo 16FKO+ Piezo1 WT: P = 0.000000000000011), one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test). G Cartoon illustration (Created in BioRender. Shan, Z. (2025) https://BioRender.com/jkftvy7) of PIEZO1-TMEM16F coupling in regulating trophoblast fusion. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.