Fig. 2: ATG7-dependent autophagy regulates melanin content and melanogenesis of NHEM.

a Melanin contents of NHEM transfected with control shRNA, ATG7 shRNA, empty vector, or lentivirus ATG7. b Relative mRNA expression of TYR, TRP1, TRP2, and MITF in NHEM transfected with control shRNA or ATG7 shRNA were detected by qRT-PCR. c Representative images of western blotting of TYR, TRP1, TRP2, and MITF in NHEM transfected with control shRNA or ATG7 shRNA. GAPDH was used as a protein loading control. d Relative mRNA expression of TYR, TRP1, TRP2, and MITF in NHEM transfected with empty vector or lentivirus ATG7 were detected by qRT-PCR. e Representative images of western blotting of TYR, TRP1, TRP2, and MITF in NHEM transfected with empty vector or lentivirus ATG7. GAPDH was used as a protein loading control. The data represent the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; ns, nonsignificant.