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. 2021 Sep 22;6(18):e151981. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.151981

Figure 1. Autophagic flux is impaired during LCWE-induced KD vasculitis.

Figure 1

(A) H&E-stained heart tissue sections and heart vessel inflammation score from PBS- and LCWE-injected mice, 1 week after LCWE injection (n = 5/group). Scale bars: 500 µm. (B) Representative pictures of the abdominal aorta, maximal abdominal aorta diameter, and abdominal aorta area measurements from PBS- and LCWE-injected mice at 1 week after LCWE injection (n = 5/group). (C) Systemic IL-1β levels in the serum of PBS- and LCWE-injected mice, at 1 week after LCWE injection (n = 5/group). (D and E) Western blot (WB) analysis (D) and quantification (E) of mTOR axis–related proteins in whole lysate heart tissues from PBS- and LCWE-injected mice, 1 week after LCWE injection with (n = 5/group). (F and G) WB images (F) and quantification (G) of AMPK axis–related proteins in whole lysate heart tissues from PBS- and LCWE-injected mice, 1 week after LCWE injection with (n = 5/group). (H and I) WB analysis (H) and quantification (I) of autophagy-related proteins in whole lysate heart tissues from PBS- and LCWE-injected mice, 1 week after LCWE injection with (n = 5/group). (J) In vivo autophagic flux assay, measured by WB analysis and quantification of LC3-II protein accumulation in whole lysate heart tissue from WT PBS- and LCWE-treated mice, 1 week after LCWE injection and a single dose of 40 mg/kg chloroquine (CQ) i.p. 4 hours prior to tissue harvest (n = 5/group). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by Mann-Whitney U test (pS6 [E], pAMPK/AMPK [G]), 2-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test analysis (J) and unpaired Student t test for all other panels.