FIG. 8.

Vps34^cKO thyrocytes show strong accumulation of p62 and LC3b dots. (A) Thyroid sections from control (left) and Vps34^cKO (right) labeled for p62 (red), LC3b (green), and lysosomal LAMP-1 (white). Nuclei are labeled by Hoechst (shown in blue). Compared with control follicles, which show low LAMP-1 and almost no signal for p62 and LC3b, all three markers are very strong in Vps34^cKO thyroid sections. p62 perfectly colocalizes with LC3b and labels large aggregates. These aggregates are adjacent to LAMP-1-positive structures. (B) Increased NRF2 signaling. Gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR, presented as boxes with median and percentiles. As compared with control thyroid (black boxes), expression of Nrf2 is reduced in Vps34^cKO (red boxes), but level of two of three NRF2 target genes, Txnrd1 and Nqo1, is increased. Boxes with median and percentiles of ∼9 control and 9 Vps34^cKO samples; *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001 by Mann–Whitney nonparametric test.