Figure 3.
Autophagic activity is impaired in baboon lungs with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Baboons were delivered by cesarean section at 125 days of gestation (∼27 wk of human gestation) and treated with exogenous surfactant, pro re nata O2, and mechanical ventilation for 14 days. Control baboons were delivered at 140 days of gestation and killed immediately before their first breath. (A) Lung homogenates were prepared and analyzed by IB with antibodies against cleaved caspase 3 (cl. cas3), p-S6, AMPK, p-AMPK, LC3-I and -II, p62, TFEB (transcription factor EB), BECN1, Parkin, and PINK1 (phosphatase and tensin homolog–induced kinase 1). (B) Relative protein expression levels, normalized to ACTB (except for LC3-II, which was normalized to LC3-I), were determined by densitometry. Data are shown as mean ± SEM; n = 7 per group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001.