Figure 8.

Autophagy upregulation by trehalose protects against hydroquinone- (HQ-) induced oxidative stress in human RPE-19 cells. (a–d) Immunoblots for changes in protein expression of LC3-II, p62, and Nrf2 in cells preincubated with trehalose or vehicle before HQ exposure. (e) Trypan blue assay showing loss of protection against HQ in shRNA ATG5 cells pretreated with trehalose. Data represent the mean ± SD of 3 independent experiments. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA test, followed by Dunnett's post hoc test; ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, ^∗∗∗p < 0.001.