Fig. 4: Harmol activates the AMPK-mTOR-TFEB pathway.

a PC12 inducible cells were induced by 1 µg/mL DOX for 24 h, and cells were incubated with 3, 10, and 30 µM harmol for 24 h. Protein extracts were subjected to Western blot analysis. Representative blots are shown. b The levels of p-AMPK/AMPK, p-mTOR/mTOR and TFEB were quantified as the mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 vs. the control (0.1% DMSO). ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.05 vs. the DOX. c Cells were treated with 30 µM harmol in the presence or absence of CC (5 µM), and representative blots are shown. The levels of p-AMPK/AMPK (d), α-syn (e), p-mTOR/mTOR (f), and TFEB (g) were quantified as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. ^##P < 0.01 and ^###P < 0.001 vs. the control (0.1% DMSO). ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.01 vs. the DOX. ^$$P < 0.01 and ^$$$P < 0.001 vs. the DOX + harmol.