Figure 4

Augmentation of RPE-MC cell death by autophagy inhibition occurs through a nonapoptotic cell death pathway. (a) Western blotting analysis demonstrating that caspase-3 and -7 were activated in the rotenone-alone-treated ARPE-19 cells. (b) Flow cytometry analysis demonstrating that the percentage of annexin V-positive cells was approximately 10%. Representative data are presented. (c) Viability assay showing that zVAD-fmk only partially prevented the augmentation of cell death caused by the autophagy inhibitors. The values are expressed as the mean±S.D. (d) TUNEL assays showing that autophagy inhibitors did not augment the percentage of TUNEL-positive cells. See Figure 2 for other definitions. The values are expressed as the mean±S.D.