Fig. 8: ATG7 is essential for autophagy activation and phagolysosomal maturation in macrophages during NTM infection in vitro.

a–d BMDMs from Atg7 cWT and Atg7 cKO mice were infected with GFP-Mabc-S (MOI of 5) or GFP-Mabc-R (MOI of 5) for 6 h (a–c, e) or 18 h (d). Cells were stained with LC3 (red) and LAMP1 (blue) and visualized by confocal microscopy. Representative confocal images (a, c). Mabc and LC3 colocalization was assessed by calculating Pearson’s coefficient (b Un: n = 10; Mabc-S and Mabc-R: n = 12; independent biological replicates). Mabc and LAMP1 colocalization was assessed by calculating Pearson’s coefficient (e Un: n = 10, Mabc-S and Mabc-R: n = 12, independent biological replicates). Representative TEM images showing autophagosome in of BMDMs (d). Statistical significance was determined by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test or unpaired Student’s t-test with Welch’s correction (b, e). Data shown (means ± SEM) represent the combined results of triplicates from three independent experiments (b, e). Images are representative of three independent experiments (a, c, d). Un uninfected. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.