Fig. 4

Inhibition of autophagy enhances apoptosis, while suppression of apoptosis diminishes autophagy. a–g TDSCs were pretreated with 3-MA (1 mM, 1 h) before incubation with 10 mg/dL cholesterol and 3-MA for 24 h. Apoptosis-related proteins (cleaved caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-xL, and PARP) (a, b) were analyzed by western blotting. The apoptosis proportion was evaluated by TUNEL staining (g, h, bar, 50 um) and annexin V-FITC flow cytometry (d–g). Cell viability was assessed by CCK-8 assay (c). h, i TDSCs were pretreated with Z-VAD-FMK (20 μM, 1 h) before incubation with 10 mg/dL cholesterol and Z-VAD-FMK for 24 h. Autophagy-related proteins (LC3-II and p62) were analyzed by western blotting. All quantitative data are expressed as the means ± SEM of the results from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 versus control, ^#p < 0.05 versus CHO. CHO, cholesterol; ZAK, Z-VAD-FMK