Fig. 6. A_2AR KO increased the initiation of autophagy and decreased the accumulation of autophagosomes in injured cortex after moderate TBI.

a Western blot analysis of the levels of the autophagy-related protein Beclin1, the ATG12–ATG5 conjugate, and LC3 in cortical tissue lysates obtained from the sham and moderate TBI groups of WT and KO mice. b Beclin1 levels shown in (a) are quantified and normalized to β-actin levels. The data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 5–6, *P < 0.05. c ATG12–ATG5 conjugate levels shown in (a) are quantified and normalized to β-actin levels. Data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 5–6, *P < 0.05. d LC3-II levels shown in (a) are quantified and normalized to β-actin levels. The data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 5–6, **P < 0.01. e Relative mRNA levels (qPCR) of beclin1 in sham and TBI mice are normalized to β-actin levels. The data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 3, *P < 0.05 for the comparison between the WT + TBI and KO + TBI groups. f Relative mRNA levels (qPCR) of atg5 in sham and TBI mice are normalized to β-actin levels. The data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 3, *P < 0.05 for the comparison between the WT + TBI and KO + TBI groups. g Relative mRNA levels (qPCR) of lc3 in sham and TBI mice are normalized to β-actin levels. The data are presented as means ± SEM, n = 3, **P < 0.01 for the comparison between the WT + TBI and KO + TBI groups