Fig. 1

Assessing A2M expression in the maternal portion and fetal portion of the placenta. a Determination of the A2M levels in maternal serum obtained from the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and the third day after delivery in the normal and PE groups by ELISA. b, c Representative immunofluorescence staining of A2M and α-SMA in the cross-sections of the spiral artery from the decidua basalis of the first trimester (counterstained with DAPI) (b), and c is the quantitative analysis of the positive expression area of α-SMA and A2M in the total vessel. d, d1–d3 Representative immunofluorescent staining of α-SMA and A2M in the cross-sections of the spiral artery from the decidua basalis of the third trimester (counterstained with DAPI) (d), d1 is the analysis of the ratio of un-remodeled blood vessels per field, and d2–d3 is the quantitative analysis of the positive expression area of α-SMA (d2) and A2M (d3) in the total vessel. e, e1–e2 Western blotting data showing the expression of α-SMA and A2M in the decidua basalis of the third trimester (e), and e1–e2 are the quantitative analysis of the expression of α-SMA (e1) and A2M (e2) in the normal and PE groups. f Determination of the A2M levels in umbilical cord serum in the normal and PE groups by ELISA. g, g1 Western blotting data showing the level of A2M in the villous chorion of the third trimester (g), and g1 is the quantitative analysis of A2M expression in the normal and PE groups. h A2M immunohistochemical analysis of cross-sections of first or third trimester villous chorion. i Representative HE and CD31 immunohistochemical staining on cross-sections of villous chorion of the third trimester from the normal and PE groups. j, j1–j2 VEGF and VEGFR2 immunohistochemical staining on cross-sections of the villous chorion of the third trimester from the normal and PE groups (j), and j1–j2 show the quantitative analysis of VEGF (j1) and VEGFR2 (j2) expression in the two groups. Scale bars = 100 μm in b and d; 20 μm in h–j. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001