Aristolochic Acid-Induced Autophagy Promotes Epithelial-to-Myofibroblast Transition in Human Renal Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells

Figure 6

The effects of inhibiting autophagy by Beclin 1 gene knockdown on EMT in AA-treated HKC cells. HKC cells were transiently transfected with Beclin 1 siRNA or control siRNA. Afterwards, the experiments were divided into the following 4 groups: HKC cells in medium; HKC cells in medium containing 10 μmol/L AA; HKC cells transfected with control siRNA in medium containing 10 μmol/L AA; HKC cells transfected with Beclin 1 siRNA in medium containing 10 μmol/L AA. (a) After 12 h incubation, cells were harvested and then mRNA expression levels of Beclin 1, E-cadherin, and α-SMA were measured by real-time quantitative PCR. (b) and (c) After 24 h incubation, HKC cells were harvested to detect the protein expression levels of LC3-II, Beclin 1, E-cadherin, and α-SMA by Western blot assay. The relative protein expression level is expressed as the ratio of target protein/β-actin. Experiments were repeated 5 times independently. Values are represented as mean ± SD (). versus control group; versus AA group; versus AA + control siRNA group.

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