Autophagy Protects Advanced Glycation End Product-Induced Apoptosis and Expression of MMP-3 and MMP-13 in Rat Chondrocytes

Figure 2

AGEs increase chondrocytes autophagy. (a) Western blot analysis of Beclin1, LC3-I, and LC3-II after incubating chondrocytes with 100 μg/mL AGEs at different time points. (b) Protein densitometric quantification of Beclin1 and LC3-II/LC3-I ratio. (c) Fluorescent microscopy analysis of chondrocytes transfected with mCherry-GFP-LC3, followed by 100 μg/mL AGEs for 6 h. (d) Statistical analysis of fluorescent dots in chondrocytes. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. and versus the control group.

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