Figure 4.

Cardiomyocyte-specific deletion of both ROCK1 and ROCK2 promotes starvation-induced autophagy through inhibiting mTOR signaling. A) Starvation was performed for 24 h on MCM/ROCK1^fl/flROCK2^fl/fl (MCM/ROCK1&2^fl/fl) mice after 30 d from first TAM or oil injection. Representative transmission electron microscopy images of MCM/ROCK1&2^fl/fl hearts collected after 24 h of starvation. TAM-injected starved MCM/ROCK1&2^fl/fl hearts showed increased numbers of autophagic vacuoles (red arrows) compared with oil-injected starved MCM/ROCK1&2^fl/fl hearts. Scale bar, 500 nm. B) Representative image of Western blot analysis in the ventricular homogenates from fed or starved mice. C) Quantitative analysis of immunoreactive bands of LC3-II. D) Quantitative analysis of p-MLC and MLC, p-FAK and FAK, p-AKT and AKT, p-mTOR and mTOR, p-ULK and ULK, and p-AMPK and AMPK. Stv, starved; n = 4–6 in each group. *P < 0.05 vs. oil-injected group, ^#P < 0.05 vs. fed group.