Table 3. Quantification of acid vesicular organelles (AVOs) in MCF-7aro cells treated with exemestane.

3 Days	Testosterone	T+10 µM	T+15 µM	T+H2O2
AO−	86.53±0.80	68.83±1.02***	52.09±1.99***	25.91±2.86***
AO+	13.63±0.77	31.40±1.05*** (2.30)	48.25±2.01*** (3.54)	74.65±2.97*** (5.48)

Cells were treated with different concentrations of exemestane after 3, 6 and 9 days. Cells with 50 µM of zVAD or with 1 mM of 3-MA, with or without exemestane (5–15 µM), were also studied for 3 and 6 days, respectively. Treated cells were harvested, stained with acridine orange and analyzed by flow cytometry. Data are presented as single cell events of viable cells, AO negative (AO⁻), and with AVO formation, AO positive (AO⁺). Cells cultured with T were considered as control and cells treated with T and H₂O₂ (0.05 mM) were considered as positive control for autophagic cell death. The data represents means ± SEM of three independent experiments done in triplicate. The ratio treatment/control is presented in bold within brackets. Significant differences between the control versus treated cells, or between the control plus zVAD versus cells with exemestane plus zVAD, or between the control plus 3-MA versus cells with exemestane plus 3-MA are indicated by *** (p<0.001); cells with exemestane versus exemestane plus 3-MA are indicated by ^### (p<0.001).