FIGURE 3.

Capsaicin induces autophagy, which down-regulates ribophorin II. (A) After capsaicin treatment for 24 h, mRNA levels of ribophorin II in HSC-3 and SAS cells were assayed by RT-PCR. (B) Cells were pre-treated with capsaicin for 42 h, co-treated with chloroquine for another 6 h, and then Western blot assays were used to examine the levels of ribophorin II, LC3-II, p62, and cleaved PARP. (C) Cells were pre-treated with capsaicin for 42 h, co-treated with ULK1 inhibitor for another 6 h, and then evaluated with Western blot assays. (D) Cells were pre-treated with capsaicin for 24 h, co-treated with rapamycin for another 24 h, and then evaluated with Western blot assays. Data are representative of five to six independent experiments.