Fig. 6: SLC7A5-deficient LUSC cells are resistant to BPA-BNCT but sensitive to autophagy inhibitors.

A Clonogenic assay assessing colony growth of H2170 and its SLC7A5 knockout cells (KO1 and KO2) treated with chloroquine (CQ, 30 μM). Colonies were stained with crystal violet (bottom) and quantified by ImageJ software (top). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. B Clonogenic assay assessing colony growth of H2170 and its SLC7A5 knockout cells (KO1 and KO2) treated with or without BPA-BNCT. Colonies were stained with crystal violet (bottom) and quantified by ImageJ software (top). ns, p > 0.5; *p < 0.05. C RT-qPCR (upper) and immunoblotting (lower) analysis assessing SLC7A5 expression in wild-type (WT) H2170 and its BPA-BNCT-treated surviving cells (BPA-BNCT). **p < 0.01. D RT-qPCR analysis (upper) assessing LC3B expression in wild-type (WT) H2170 and its BPA-BNCT-treated surviving cells (BPA-BNCT). Immunoblotting analysis (lower) assessing LC3B-I and LC3B-II expression in wild-type (WT) H2170 and its BPA-BNCT-treated surviving cells (BPA-BNCT) in the presence or absence of chloroquine (CQ). ***p < 0.001. E Clonogenic assay (lower) assessing colony growth of wild-type (WT) H2170 and BPA-BNCT-treated surviving cells (BPA-BNCT) in the presence or absence of chloroquine (CQ, 20 μM). Colonies were stained with crystal violet (bottom) and quantified by Image. *p < 0.05. F Clonogenic assay assessing colony growth of wild-type (WT) H2170 treated with or without BPA-BNCT in the presence or absence of chloroquine (CQ, 20 μM). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.