Fig. 8: Mitophagy contributes to removal of excess mitochondrial fragments in preeclampsia.

(a, left panel) Representative TEM image of a cytotrophoblast from PTC and PE placenta collected at 29 weeks. Mitochondrial proximity to ER (MAM) is indicated by white arrows, mitochondrial fission events are depicted by white stars (scale bar: 500 nm; n = 8 separate PE placentae). (a, right panel) percentage of mitochondrial tethering to the ER in in PE vs. PTC (PE placentae, n = 8; PTC placentae, n = 7; unpaired Student’s t-test *P < 0.05). b Representative western blots for MFN2 and calreticulin in ER isolated from PE and PTC placentae (PE and PTC, n = 3 separate samples). c WB and associated densitometry of ASAH2 (normalized to TOM20) in mitochondria from PTC and PE placentae. d Representative TEM depicting mitophagy (white arrow) in cytotrophoblast cell from PE placenta (scale bar: 500 nm, n = 8 separate PE placentae). e Western blot and associated densitometry of PINK1 and Parkin in PE vs. PTC mitochondrial isolates. Densitometry for PINK1 blot was used to calculate the ratio of full-length PINK_63kDa to cleaved PINK1_53kDa (PE and PTC, n = 4 separate placentae, *P < 0.05)