Fig. 1

Ferroptosis inducers enhance trophoblasts syncytialization. (A) BeWo cells were treated with forskolin (FSK, 2.5 µM) and RSL3 (10, 50, or 100 nM), ML-210 (5, 20, 100, or 200 nM), or erastin (5, 10, 25, 50, 100, or 200 µM) for 48 h. CCK-8 assay analysis of cell viability. (B–D) BeWo cells treated with forskolin (FSK, 2.5 µM) and RSL3 (50 nM), ML-210 (100 nM), or erastin (50 µM) for 48 h. (B) Immunoblotting showing hCGβ and GPX4 protein levels in lysates from FSK-treated BeWo cells. β-actin served as the loading control. Representative data from three independent experiments are shown. The graph shows hCGβ and GPX4 levels normalized to β-actin levels from three independent experiments. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ^###P < 0.001 vs. Ctrl, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. FSK. (C) Cells were immunostained with anti-E-cadherin antibody (green) and DAPI (blue) to visualize syncytialization. A representative images from three independent experiments and quantification of fused cells (n = 5) are shown; syncytialized cells are outlined with stippled lines. Scale bar = 100 µm. Values are represented as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. ^#P < 0.05 vs. Ctrl, ***P < 0.001 vs. FSK.