Figure 8.

Autophagy is required for cell survival of A549 cells exposed to PM_2.5. A. Inducing autophagy by rapamycin decreases PM_2.5-induced cell death. A549 cells were treated with 100 μg/ml PM_2.5 for 24 h following treatment with rapamycin for 6 h. Cell death was assessed by trypan blue staining. B. Inhibiting autophagy by 3-MA in A549 cells exposed to PM_2.5 increases PM_2.5-induced cell death. A549 cells were treated with 100 μg/ml PM_2.5 for 24 h following treatment with 3-MA for 6 h. Cell death was assessed by trypan blue staining. Data represent the mean ± SD derived from at least 3 separate experiments (> 100 cells per experiment), *P < 0.05, significant compared to without treatment of 3-MA.