Research Article

In Vivo Suppression of Autophagy via Lentiviral shRNA Targeting Atg5 Improves Lupus-Like Syndrome

Figure 3

In vivo Atg5 silencing attenuated disease development in lupus-prone Trem-1-/-.lpr mice. shLuc- or shAtg5-containing lentivirus ( R.I.U) was i.p. injected twice into TREM-1-/-.lpr mice at 22 and 30 weeks old. (a) The autophagy level (AVOs (%)) in peripheral lymphocytes was evaluated using AO staining and flow cytometry. (b) Levels of proteinuria were measured by urine strip at 8 and 16 weeks after the first injection. (c, d) Serum was harvested and anti-dsDNA antibody and BAFF levels were analyzed using ELISA. (e) Mice were euthanized at 38-40 weeks old. Afterward, the spleen and (f) superficial cervical, axillary, and inguinal lymph nodes, as well as lymph nodes in the peritoneal cavity, were excised and weighed. The results are representative of duplicate measurements of each mouse. Mean values were shown by a bar. represents .
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