Figure 1.

Autophagosomes increase in AMs with the development of silicosis. (A) A representative image of fixed alveolar macrophages from different groups stained for LC3B (original magnification ×600). Green, LC3B protein; Red, PI-labeled nuclei; PI was used for nuclear staining. Scale bar: 40 μm. (B) AMs from observers and different silicosis stages were analyzed for LC3B by western blot. ACTB/beta-actin protein was used as a loading control. (C) LC3-II/LC3-I ratios for each patient group. Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA (n = 11 for the observer group; n = 14 for stages I, II and III. ^*, P < 0.05 compared to the observer group，^#, P < 0.05 vs. stage I patient group. O, observer group; I, stage I patient group; II, stage II patient group; III, stage III patient group).