Fig. 3.

Modulating autophagy and the mTOR-4EBP1 pathway. a-d The expression levels of p-mTOR and p-4EBP1 were significantly decreased in rapamycin-induced autophagy activation, and the effects were significantly increased by down-regulating autophagy with 3-MA. The increased expression of LC3 II indicated the activation of autophagy in the rapamycin group, whereas the expression of LC3 II was decreased in the 3-MA group. ^††P < 0.01 vs Control, ^**P < 0.01, ^*P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, and ^#P < 0.05 vs DCM. Each experiment was conducted 3 times in triplicate