Fig. 3: Intracellular potassium leakage caused mitochondrial damage in C. elegans. | Communications Biology

Fig. 3: Intracellular potassium leakage caused mitochondrial damage in C. elegans.

From: C. elegans monitor energy status via the AMPK pathway to trigger innate immune responses against bacterial pathogens

Fig. 3

a The fluorescent confocal micrograph of nematodes carrying a labeled endocytosis protein (RT311[Pvha-6::GFP::RAB-11]) and labeled mitochondria (SJ4143(zcIs17 [Pges-1::GFPmt]) fed rhodamine-labeled Cry5Ba protein. Cry5Ba (magenta) and endocytosis (green) were co-localized and displayed white dots (arrow), but not with mitochondria (green). Scale bar represents 10 μm. N = 3 independent experiments. b Quantitative the intracellular potassium concentrations by fluorescent dye ION Potassium Green-2 AM during C. elegans N2 and bre-5(ye17) treated with Cry5Ba/BMB171 at different potassium concentrations. N = 3 independent experiments containing at least 20 worms. c C. elegans SJ4143 was fed with OP50 or Cry5Ba/BMB171 under different potassium concentrations. The mitochondrial morphology was visible in representative images of worms treated by each strain. Scale bar represents 20 μm. N = 3 independent experiments. d Chart showing the proportion of worms that showed MF phenotype in each condition. N = 3 independent experiments containing at least 50 worms each. e Analysis of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm)) in each condition under Cry5Ba/BMB171 treatment. N = 3 independent experiments containing at least 20 worms. f The relative AMP/ATP ratio was measured in different potassium environments with Cry5Ba/BMB171 treatment or not. N = 3 independent experiments g The survival assay of the N2 worms after BMB171/Cry5Ba infection at different potassium concentrations. N = 3 independent experiments. In experiment (a–f), worms were treated for 4 h. Data points represent the mean values of three independent replicates, error bars denote the SD in (d), (e), and (g). The whiskers represent the data from the maximum to the minimum, and the box shows the 75th percentile, 25th percentile, and median in (b) and (f). The p-value was determined by a Student’s t-test (Welch’s correction for unequal variances), ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05.

Back to article page