Fig. 2.

Cx31.1 could be degraded by autophagy. (I) Autophagy induction through starvation gradually decreased the level of Cx31.1 at 2 h, 4 h and 6 h in H1299 cells stably expressing Cx31.1-EGFP. (II) Autophagy induction by Brefeldin A treatment decreased Cx31.1-EGFP level, both with or without MG-132. (III) Autophagy inhibition by ATG5 siRNAs treatment increased Cx31.1-EGFP levels, both under normal growth condition and starvation. (IV) Cx31.1-EGFP colocalizes with autophagosome marker LC3. These were images of H1299-Cx31.1-EGFP cells transiently transfected with a DNA construct coding for mCherry-LC3 (red). Overlapped puncta had been shown under normal growth condition, as well as under starvation. Scale bar, 10 μm.