FIGURE 1.
Homodimerization of Bnip3 is essential for induction of autophagy. A, HeLa cells overexpressing Bnip3 or Bnip3 mutants were scored for the presence of GFP-LC3-positive autophagosomes. Bnip3, but not Bnip3ΔTM, significantly increased the number of autophagosomes/cell compared with β-gal-infected cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 3. B, Bnip3, but not Bnip3ΔTM, significantly increased the number of cells positive for autophagy compared with β-gal-infected cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 3. Shown is a representative Western blot analysis for endogenous LC3I/II. C, Bnip3, but not the homodimerization-deficient mutants, significantly increased the number of GFP-LC3 positive autophagosomes/cell compared with Myc-transfected control cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 3. D, Bnip3, but not the homodimerization-deficient mutants, induced significant autophagy compared with Myc-transfected control cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 4. Representative Western blot analysis for endogenous LC3I/II. E, the presence of GABARAP-GFP-positive autophagosomes in HeLa cells overexpressing Bnip3. Bnip3, but not the mutants, significantly increased the number of GABARAP-GFP-positive autophagosomes/cell compared with Myc-transfected control cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 3. Representative images are shown. F, Bnip3, but not the mutants, induced autophagy in a significant number of cell compared with Myc-transfected control cells. *, p < 0.05. n = 4.