Figure 3. Autophagy suppresses the apoptosis induction in ERAL1 siRNA-treated HeLa cells. (A) SQSTM1/p62 protein levels were decreased in ERAL1 siRNA-treated HeLa cells. HeLa cells were transfected with control siRNA or ERAL1 siRNA. The levels of SQSTM1/p62 in HeLa cells were detected by western blot at the indicated time points after siRNA transfection. (B) Autophagy was induced ahead of apoptosis. The LC3-I to LC3-II conversion (top panel) and CASP3/Caspase-3 activity (bottom panel) in HeLa cells were detected at the indicated time points after ERAL1 siRNA transfection. (C) Inhibition of autophagy enhanced the CASP3 activation. HeLa cells were treated for 72 h with the siRNA(s) and inhibitor as indicated. CASP3 activities in cell lysates were determined as described under Materials and Methods. * and **, different from ERAL1 siRNA alone (column 2). The p values derived from Student’s t-test are *p < 0.01 and **p < 0.001.