Research Article

MSC-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Activate Mitophagy to Alleviate Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via the miR-223-3p/NLRP3 Axis

Figure 3

BMSC-derived EVs suppressed apoptosis and inflammasome activation and promoted mitophagy in H/R-induced TCMK-1 cells. TCMK-1 cells were subjected to H/R stimulation and exosome treatment. (a) The H/R-induced cell apoptosis was determined using flow cytometry. (b and e) The protein levels of BAX, cleaved caspase-3, and Bcl-2 were confirmed using the western blot analysis. (c) Expressions of the mitophagy markers were detected using the western blot analysis. (d) Mitophagosome formation was assessed based on the colocalization of the autophagy marker GFP-LC3B and the mitochondria marker Mito Tracker (DsRed-Mito). (e) The levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were determined using qPCR. (f) The expressions of NLRP3, ASC1, and cleaved caspase 1 were evaluated using the western blot analysis. . ; ; .
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