Fig. 5

Effects of dexamethasone on expression of bile acid transporters and nuclear receptors in BeWo cells. BeWo cells were treated with dexamethasone (0, 20,100, and 500 nM) for 5 days; cytotoxicity of dexamethasone was measured by MTS assay (a). The mRNA expression of organic anion transporter polypeptide-related protein 2B1 (OATP2B1), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), organic anion transporter polypeptide-related protein 4A1 (OATP4A1), and multidrug resistance-associated proteins 4 (MRP4) (b), glucocorticoid receptor (GR), and farnesoid X receptor (FXR) (c) were measured by RT-qPCR. Cells were treated with 500 nM dexamethasone for 5 days; the protein expression of bile acid transporters (OATP2B1, BCRP, and MRP4) (d–f) and GR protein in cytoblast (g) were detected by immunofluorescence (magnification × 400, except “H” × 200). The protein expression of FXR was measured by western blotting, and quantitative fold change of protein level was analyzed by ImageJ version 1.44 (h). Cells were treated with 500 nM dexamethasone for 5 days; after that, CDCA (20 μM) and TCA (20 μM) were added into the upper compartment of a transwell insert, and the concentration of CDCA and TCA (i) in the upper compartment was measured by TBA test kit after 120-min incubation at 37 °C. n = 11 for maternal serum detection, n = 6 for the rest of the experiments. Data are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05 vs. control. **P < 0.01 vs. control. Dex, dexamethasone