Fig. 2. Abnormal autophagy in Atg7-deficient OHCs.

A Representative immunostaining images showing efficient knockout of Atg7 in the OHCs and not in the IHCs. B Western blot showed that Atg7 was largely suppressed in the cochlear whole mount of Prestin^Cre/+Atg7^flox/flox mice. C Representative immunoblots showing elevated P62, increased LC3-I, and decreased LC3-II/LC3-I ratio. D P62 accumulated in Atg7-deficient OHCs, showing a colorful mosaic pattern when co-stained with myosin 7a. E P62 aggregated in the mutant OHCs, especially at middle and basal turns. An OHC in the basal turn was extruded from the sensory epithelium (white arrowhead). N = 6 for each group (western blot: N = 3). Scale bar: 10 μm.