FIGURE 2.

Quantification of starvation-induced autophagy in sex-segregated neurons. A, time-lapsed images of neurons from male (XY) and female (XX) GFP-LC3^+/- mice showing formation of GFP-enriched vacuoles consistent with autophagosome formation. Times ranged from 0 to 82 min and were captured from Video S1. B and C, three-dimensional quantification of fluorescent intensity in GFP-LC3^+/- mouse cortical neurons transfected with 20 nmol of Atg7 siRNA or a nontargeting scrambled control siRNA 72 h before nutrient deprivation. Atg7 siRNA reduced GFP-LC3 fluorescent intensity in XY neurons at 24 h. AU, arbitrary units; data from 8 regions (3000 pixels²)/slide, 4 slides/group; mean ± S.D.; ^*, p < 0.05 versus control; †, p < 0.05 versus XY; ‡, p < 0.05 versus control siRNA; ANOVA with Dunnett's post hoc test.