Fig. 1: Loperamide, pimozide, and STF-62247 induce autophagy-dependent cell death in GBM cells.

a Lysates from untreated MZ-54 WT, ATG5, and ATG7 KO cells were subjected to Western blotting with the indicated antibodies and vinculin as loading control. The asterisk indicates the absence of the ATG5-ATG12 conjugate in ATG7 KO cells. b–d MZ-54 WT, ATG5 KO, and ATG7 KO cells were treated with indicated concentrations of loperamide, pimozide, STF-62247, and IM/TIC for 48 h. Cell death was assessed by measuring the PI uptake as fraction of total nuclei determined by Hoechst counterstaining using high-content fluorescence microscopy. Data are presented as mean and SEM of 3−5 independent experiments performed in triplicate. Significances are calculated against WT cells treated with the same drug concentration. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. UT untreated, LOP loperamide, PIMO pimozide, STF STF-62247, IM imipramine hydrochloride, TIC ticlopidine