Figure 4. Beclin 1 and Atg7 are necessary for NR4A1-mediated vesicular cell death.

A, HEK293 cells were transfected with NK₁R and exposed or not to SP, or B, with the empty vector pcDNA3 or IGF1R. Expression of Beclin 1 or Atg7 was blocked by transfecting SMARTpool siRNAs for them in both models. As control, siRNA targeting a sequence not found in the human genome was transfected. Cells death was determined by trypan blue exclusion 24 hr after cell death induction. Bars represent standard error, (n = 4, * p<0.05). C, Western blot to show the efficiency of the respective RNAi. GAPDH was detected as loading reference. Atg7 signal was particularly low in these cells, therefore the exposure for this blot was longer and the contrast was increased.