Fig. 4.

NL-SDT activates autophagy via the ROS–AMPK–mTORC1 signaling pathway in vitro. (A and B) Levels of proteins associated with AMPK–mTORC1–autophagy signaling in each group detected by western blot. Quantification of protein levels (right). (C–F) The effects of AMPK, mTOR, or ATG5 knockdown by siRNA on NL-SDT-induced autophagy in BMDM1s detected by western blot, electron micrography, and LSCM. Quantification of protein levels (left bottom). Scale bar (black): 1 μm. Scale bar (white): 10 μm. For all experiments, n = ~4–5, and experiments were performed independently in triplicate. ANOVA followed by the Student–Newman–Keuls test was used for statistical analyses. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. control; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01, ###P < 0.001 vs. the NL-SDT group.