Figure 8.

p38 regulates autophagy in astrocytes in an mTOR dependent manner. U251 cells stably expressing EGFP-C1 vector control (V), wt GFAP (wt) and mt GFAP (mt) were transiently transfected with mTOR siRNA, p38 SiRNA or both. Forty-eight hours later, protein was extracted and subjected to immunoblotting analysis. The expression of mTOR siRNA had no effects on levels of p-p38, but increased LC3 levels in all three lines. Expressing the p38 siRNA increased p-mTOR levels in all three lines and blocked the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II. Co-expressing both p38 siRNA and mTOR SiRNA blocked the inhibitory effect of the p38 siRNA on autophagy.