Fig. 3: 3-MA weakens the effects of UC-MSC treatment on hepatoprotection and upregulation of autophagy in the liver of mice with I/R injury.

Mice with liver I/R injury were treated with PBS, 3-MA, UC-MSCs or UC-MSCs+3-MA were killed 6 h after reperfusion. a The number of autophagic vacuoles was determined by TEM. The data are presented as the means ± SEMs (n = 5/group). b Western blot assays were performed to detect the level of autophagy in liver tissues. c Representative liver sections from each experimental group stained with DHE and DAPI were obtained to determine the total ROS level. The data are presented as the means ± SEMs (n = 5/group). d Representative liver sections from each experimental group stained with MitoSOX Red and DAPI were obtained to determine the level of mtROS. The data are presented as the means ± SEMs (n = 5/group). e H&E staining was used for the assessment of liver injury (magnification ×100). The data are presented as the means ± SEMs (n = 5/group). f Representative liver sections from each group stained with caspase-3 were obtained (magnification ×200). The IHC staining of caspase-3 in liver tissues was semiquantified (n = 5). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (all p-values were obtained by one-way ANOVA).