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Fig. 2 | BMC Oral Health

Fig. 2

From: Nicotine regulates autophagy of human periodontal ligament cells through α7 nAchR that promotes secretion of inflammatory factors IL-1β and IL-8

Fig. 2

Effects of nicotine and/or α-BTX on the expression of autophagy protein and autolysosomes in hPDLCs. A LC3 fluorescence puncta in hPDLCs after nicotine and/or α-BTX as determined by immunofluorescence using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Scale bars represent 100 µm; B Bar graph showing the number of LC3 fluorescence puncta per cell for at least 10 cells per group; C LC3II and Beclin-1 protein expression in hPDLCs assessed by Western blot analysis; D LC3II protein quantitative analysis. Data were expressed as mean ± SD from at least three independent experiments; E Beclin-1 protein quantitative analysis. Data were expressed as mean ± SD from at least three independent experiments; F TEM was used to evaluate autophagy induced by nicotine (10−5 mol/L, 12 h) and/or α-BTX (10−8 mol/L, 12.5 h). Magnification, 40,000×. Scale bar, 0.5 µm. The red arrows represent autolysosomes; G Quantitative analysis of autolysosomes in one cell, at least 3 cells in each group for statistics (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.005, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001)

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