Fig. 6: ATG5/12 and Beclin 1 are not upstream mediators of MMP2 and MMP9 in BC cells.

A–C BC cells were transfected with ATG5, ATG12, or Beclin 1 expression plasmid (1.5 μg/μL) for 24 h. The levels of indicated protein expression were examined through western blot assay (N = 3). D–I Correlations among ATG5/12, Beclin 1, MMP2, and MMP9 expression levels in human BC samples analyzed using the GEPIA2 web server. All data are expressed as means ± SDs in triplicate samples. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001 relative to the control group.