Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Preliminary stability studies of a ß-SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle vaccine

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.11.711036

Figure Lengend Snippet: ELISA analysis of ß-SARS-CoV-2 VLPs in PBS or mixed with excipients PS80, sorbitol or L-histidine and incubated at 4 °C for 14 days. Plates were coated with ß-SARS-CoV-2 VLPs followed by probing with anti-Spike antibody in 2-fold dilutions from 1:400 to 1:51200 (mean ± SD). ELISAs were performed three times and each dilution tested in triplicate. Samples were collected on days 1, 5, 7 and 14 for ELISA analysis, probing with polyclonal anti-S antibody. Experiments were performed in triplicate.

Article Snippet: Following separation by SDS-PAGE and transfer to polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, blots were probed with anti-S (40591-T62, Sino Biologicals), anti-M (MBS434281, MyBioSource) and anti-E (MBS8309656, MyBioSource) antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 VLPs as described previously ( , ).

Techniques: Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Incubation

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A-C. RNAscope mRNA analysis was peformed using validated RNA probes, including negative control probe (A), ERVW-1 (B), ERVFRD-1 (C) and PHF13 (B-C). D-E. PHF13 protein, analyzed using the multiplexed ChipCytometry, including controls (D) and PHF13 (E). Note that the syncytiotrophoblast layer was marked with SDC1, and nuclei were counterstained with the Hoechst 33342 DNA dye. Scale bars: 10 mm. Images present 3 independent experiments.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: RNAscope, Negative Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: Wild-type (wt) and PHF13 knockout (ko) cells were visualized by the bright-field microscopy. Compared to control cells (A), which show the expected cobblestone-like morphology, two ko clonal cells (B-C) exhibit overt cell death (red arrows). Scale bars: 10 mm.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Knock-Out, Microscopy, Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A. PHF13 ko in BeWo cells, validated by western blot. Histone H3 was used as a loading control. B. PHF13 ko increases medium hCG release (ELISA) and expression (qPCR). BeWo cells were exposed to 50 mM forskolin for 72 h to induce differentiation. C. The effects of PHF13 ko on stemness genes including ELF5 , TEAD4 , and TP63 , and fusion-promoting genes, including GCM1 , ERVFRD-1 and its receptor MFSD2a . N=3, *p < 0.01, t-test.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Western Blot, Control, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Expressing

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A. Correlation of gene expression changes between PHF13 kd1 and PHF13 kd2 TS cells relative to their respective controls. The X-axis represents the log 2 fold change in gene expression ( PHF13 kd1 vs control), whereas the Y-axis shows the log 2 fold change in gene expression ( PHF13 kd2 vs control). Significant p values define both the Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses. The blue line indicates linear regression, whereas the green line shows non-linear regression. B. Venn diagrams showing overlap of differentially expressed genes in two PHF13 kd lines, when compared to their controls. 321 downregulated and 300 upregulated genes were found in both kd lines. The odd ratios for overlap were 18.79 for the downregulated genes, and 15.43 for the upregulated genes, suggesting signficant concordance between the two knockdown lines. C. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the 621 concordantly regulated genes shared in both PHF13 kd TS cells. The top 10 enriched terms are shown for each GO category, including biological processes, celluar component, and molecular function, ranked by enrichment scores. See results for details.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Gene Expression, Control, Knockdown

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A. Gene set enrichment analysis of canonical trophoblastic progenitor genes (shown as STEMNESS, normalized enrichment score: 1.44; FDR-adjusted value: 0.07) and syncytiotrophoblast-dominant genes (shown as STB, normalized enrichment score: 2.11; FDR-adjusted value: 1 x 10 -5 ) in TS cells deficient for PHF13 . Key gene names and results are detailed in the text. B. A volcano plot showing the 621 differentially expressed mRNAs shared in both PHF13 kd lines, when compared to controls. The x-axis represents the log 2 fold change in expression (kd/ctrl), whereas the y-axis shows the minus log 10 of the FDR-adjusted p value. The horizontal dash line marks the signficance threshold (FDR-adjusted p <0.05; –log 10 > 1.30). Red points highlight downregulated genes, including PHF13, WNT6, and SOX15 , and upregulated genes that are largely expressed in differentiated trophoblasts, including ERVFRD-1, CYP19A1, LGALS16, GCM1, and CGB8. C. A volcano plot showing the 146 differentially expressed genes shared between PHF13 kd TS cells and ko BeWo cells. The x-axis represents log 2 fold change in expression (kokd/ctrl), whereas the y-axis shows the minus log 10 of the FDR-adjusted p value. The horizontal dash line marks the signficance threshold (FDR-adjusted p <0.05; –log 10 > 1.30). Red points indicate significantly altered genes, which include downregulated stemness-associated genes ( WNT6 and SOX15 ), and upregulated differentiated trophoblast markers (e.g. ERVFRD-1, CYP19A1, LGALS16, GCM1, CGA, CGB5, CGB3, CGB8, and PGF ).

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Expressing

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: PHF13-bound regions at trophoblastic stemness genes, including ELF5 (A), TEAD4 (B), TP63 (C), and TEAD1 (D), and TS-associated genes such as WNT6 (E). Yellow shading denotes signficant PHF13 peaks (A-C, E) in TS-CTB, but not in TS-STB when compared to corresponding IgG controls. In contrast, TEAD1 (D) harbored PHF13 peaks in both TS-CTB and TS-STB. As a positive control, H3K4me3 showed binding in all the five TS-related genes in TS-CTB rather than TS-STB (A-E). The x-axis represents genomic corordinates with exonic and intronic structure, and arrows indicate the direction of transcription. The y-axis represents normalized peak intensity.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Positive Control, Binding Assay

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: Yellow shading denotes PHF13 peaks at the CGA (A) and CGB8 (B) regions in TS-STB but not in TS-CTB, relative to IgG controls. The x-axis represents genomic corordinates with exonic and intronic structure, and arrows indicate transcription direction. The y-axis represents normalized peak intensity.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques:

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A-B. 37 downregulated genes and 48 upregulated genes in PHF13-deficient cells are direct targets of PHF13. Note that their enrichment is signficant with 2.11-fold and 2.93-fold enrichment, respectively. C. PHF13 binds genomic regions of IFITM3 , an inhibitor of trophoblast fusion, in TS-CTB but not in TS-STB. Yellow shading indicates significant PHF13 peaks relative to IgG control. The x-axis represents genomic corordinates with exonic and intronic structure, and arrows indicate transcription direction. The y-axis represents normalized peak intensity. D-E. PHF13 promotes the expression of IFITM3 transcripts (D) and protein (E) in PHF13 ko BeWo cells. Actin was used as a loading control. N=3, * p < 0.05, t-test.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Control, Expressing

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A. PHF13 binds the PENK locus in TS-CTB but not in TS-STB. Yellow shading indicates significant PHF13 peaks relative to IgG controls; no H3K4me3 peaks were detected in these shaded regions in TS-CTB. The x-axis represents genomic corordinates with exonic and intronic structure, and arrows indicate transcription direction. The y-axis represents normalized peak intensity. B. PENK protein is expressed in both TS-CTB and TS-STB, and histone H3 was used as a loading control (n=3).

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: The Epigenetic Factor PHF13 Governs Trophoblast Stemness and Differentiation

doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.711150

Figure Lengend Snippet: A. The genomic sequence bound by PHF13 is also a consensus motif recognized by transcription factor THAP11. B. THAP11 protein expression is reduced in TS-STB when compared to TS-CTB cells. C. A confirmation of THAP11 protein kd. Histone H3 was used as a loading control. N=3, * p < 0.05, t-test.

Article Snippet: For each reaction, 0.5 μg of antibodies against PHF13 (Sino Biological, #202944-T08), H3K4me3 (EpiCypher, #13-0060), and a control antibody for CUT&RUN (EpiCypher, #13-0042) were used.

Techniques: Sequencing, Expressing, Control