Inhibitory Effect of β-Sitosterol on the Ang II-Induced Proliferation of A7r5 Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells

Figure 4

Effect of β-sitosterol on the autophagy of Ang II-induced A7r5 cells. (a) A7r5 cells were transfected with Ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3 and observed under a fluorescence microscope (400x), scale bar = 50 μm. In the Ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3B assay, GFP only examines autophagosomes and mCherry examines autophagosomes and autolysosomes. The yellow dots (the combined effect of mCherry and GFP) indicate autophagosomes and the red dots indicate autolysosomes. (b) Number of dots per cell was analyzed. (c) Protein expression of P62, LC3, Beclin-1, and ULK1 was examined by western blotting. (d) The ratio of LC3-II/I of A7r5 cells were analyzed. (e) P62, Beclin-1, and ULK1 protein development gray value analysis histogram. Data indicate the mean ± SD (n = 5, n: number of the sample). Significant differences in different groups compared with the control group (without treatment with Ang II or β-sitosterol) are expressed as , , and . Significant differences in different groups compared with the Ang II-alone treatment group are expressed as ^#, ^###, and ^###.

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