Fig. 6.

Arhalofenate acid prevented prolonged accumulation of p62 by promoting autophagy flux in response to MSU crystals. BMDMs were treated with arhalofenate acid (100 μM) for 1 h before stimulated with monosodium urate (MSU) crystals (0.2 mg/mL) for 2 h in the presence or absence of bafilomycin (Baf; 100 nM) and for 6 h in RPMI containing 1% FBS. Cell lysates were subjected to Western blot analysis of LC3 and p62 (a). TEM was performed to examine autophagosomes (indicated by black arrows in b), and the numbers of autophagosomes containing electron dense material per μm² are presented (c). Data in a and b are representative of three individual experiments. Data in c are the mean ± SEM of 30 cells. The p values represent comparisons between none and MSU crystals alone, or between MSU crystals alone and MSU crystals plus arhalofenate acid