Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine

Article Title: MOTS-c protects against placental injury via Nrf2 activation in hypoxia-induced intrauterine growth restriction mice

doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2025.5697

Figure Lengend Snippet: MOTS-c administration protects against hypoxia-induced fetal growth restriction. (A) Schematic timeline of the experimental setup. (B) Morphology of fetal mice on GD17.5. (C) Mean fetal weights within each litter. (D) Placental efficiency, which represents the ratio of fetal to placenta weight. (E) Representative images of H&E staining of placental tissues. Scale bar, 20 μ m. (F) Quantification of placental blood sinus area. (G) Representative IHC images CD31. Scale bar, 50 μ m. (H) Quantification of CD31 positive area. (I) Western blotting analysis of CD31, VEGFA and VEGFR2 protein expression in placenta. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. Normal, n=6; IUGR, n=6; IUGR + MOTS-c, n=5. ** P<0.01 vs. normal, *** P<0.001 vs. normal; # P<0.05 vs. IUGR; ## P<0.01 vs. IUGR; ### P<0.001 vs. IUGR. IUGR, intrauterine growth restriction; GD, gestational day; VEGFA, vascular endothelial growth factor A; VEGFR2, VEGF receptor 2.

Article Snippet: Following a 2 h blocking step at room temperature with 5% BSA (cat. no. HY-D0842; MedChemExpress) in Tris-buffered saline, the membranes were incubated overnight at 4°C with primary antibodies targeting CD31 (1:1,000; cat. no. 77699s; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2; 1:1,000; cat. no. 26415-1-AP; Proteintech), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA; 1:1,000; cat. no. 66828-1-Ig; Proteintech), Nrf2 (1:1,000; cat. no. 62352; Abcam) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; 1:5,000; cat. no. 263962; Abcam).

Techniques: Staining, Western Blot, Expressing

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine

Article Title: MOTS-c protects against placental injury via Nrf2 activation in hypoxia-induced intrauterine growth restriction mice

doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2025.5697

Figure Lengend Snippet: MOTS-c exposure promotes angiogenesis in HUVECs. (A) MOTS-c content in HUVECs. (B) Cell morphology under white light. Scale bar, 200 μ m. (C) Representative images and (D) quantitative analysis of the in vitro tube formation. Scale bar, 10 μ m. (E) Relative mRNA expression levels of CD31 , VEGFA and VEGFR2 in HUVECs. Results are representative of three independent experiments. Data are expressed as mean ± SD, n=4. * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001; # P<0.05 vs. PBS under hypoxic conditions, ## P<0.01 vs. PBS under hypoxic conditions. VEGFA, vascular endothelial growth factor A; VEGFR2, VEGF receptor 2.

Article Snippet: Following a 2 h blocking step at room temperature with 5% BSA (cat. no. HY-D0842; MedChemExpress) in Tris-buffered saline, the membranes were incubated overnight at 4°C with primary antibodies targeting CD31 (1:1,000; cat. no. 77699s; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2; 1:1,000; cat. no. 26415-1-AP; Proteintech), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA; 1:1,000; cat. no. 66828-1-Ig; Proteintech), Nrf2 (1:1,000; cat. no. 62352; Abcam) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; 1:5,000; cat. no. 263962; Abcam).

Techniques: In Vitro, Expressing

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine

Article Title: MOTS-c protects against placental injury via Nrf2 activation in hypoxia-induced intrauterine growth restriction mice

doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2025.5697

Figure Lengend Snippet: MOTS-c protects against hypoxia-induced placental insufficiency in an Nrf2-dependent manner. (A) Morphology of fetal mice on GD17.5 in WT and Nrf2 KO mice. (B) Placental efficiency, which represents the ratio of fetal to placenta weight. (C) Representative images of H&E staining of placental tissues. Scale bar, 100 μ m. (D) Quantification of the placental blood sinus area. (E) Western blotting analysis of CD31, VEGFA and VEGFR2 protein expression levels in placenta. (F) Relative mRNA expression levels of Pgf , Igf2 , Glut1 , Fatp4 and Snat2 in placenta. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. n=4-6. * P<0.05 vs. normal, ** P<0.01 vs. normal, *** P<0.001 vs. normal, # P<0.05 vs. IUGR, ### P<0.001 vs. IUGR.. NS, not significant; IUGR, intrauterine growth restriction; GD, gestational day; Pgf, placental growth factor; Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; Igf2, insulin-like growth factor 2; Glut1, glucose transporter type 1; Fatp4, fatty acid transporter 4; Snat2, sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter-2; VEGFA, vascular endothelial growth factor A; VEGFR2, VEGF receptor 2.

Article Snippet: Following a 2 h blocking step at room temperature with 5% BSA (cat. no. HY-D0842; MedChemExpress) in Tris-buffered saline, the membranes were incubated overnight at 4°C with primary antibodies targeting CD31 (1:1,000; cat. no. 77699s; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2; 1:1,000; cat. no. 26415-1-AP; Proteintech), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA; 1:1,000; cat. no. 66828-1-Ig; Proteintech), Nrf2 (1:1,000; cat. no. 62352; Abcam) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; 1:5,000; cat. no. 263962; Abcam).

Techniques: Staining, Western Blot, Expressing