Naringin protects human nucleus pulposus cells against TNF-α-induced inflammation, oxidative stress, and loss of cellular homeostasis by enhancing autophagic flux via AMPK/SIRT1 activation

Figure 7

Inhibition of autophagy with 3-MA reverses the protective effect of naringin. (a) The protein levels of LC3, Beclin-1, and P62 were measured by Western blotting. (b) The variation of autophagic flux was detected by confocal microscope (yellow spots represent autophagosomes, red spots represent autolysosomes). (c) TUNEL staining results to detect the rate of apoptosis in human NP cells. () The protein expressions of C-caspase-3, Bax, and Beclin-2 were measured by Western blotting. (e, g) The distribution of Collagen II (green), MMP-3 (red), and DAPI (blue) were detected by the immunofluorescence (scale bar: 100 μm). (f, h) The mRNA expressions of Collagen II were measure by qRT-PCR. (i) The protein expressions of Collagen II and MMP-3 were measured by Western blotting. The data represent the . Significant differences between groups are indicated as , , and , .

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