Fig. 1: HIF-1α is involved in autophagy and apoptosis induced by oxidative stress in the nucleus pulposus.

Primary nucleus pulposus cells were cultured in 400 μM TBHP for a prolonged time. a, b Cell viability was determined by the CCK-8 assay. c Western blotting for the protein levels of HIF-1α, Bcl-2/Bax, Beclin-1, and LC-3II. d–g Quantitative analysis of the protein contents of HIF-1α, Bcl-2/Bax, Beclin-1 and LC-3II. h Transmission electron microscopy was used to identify autophagosomes and autophagolysosomes. The data are represented as the mean ± S.D. ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05 (n = 5).