Figure 1

BMSC attenuates HD-induced activation of autophagy in the spinal cord and sciatic nerve of rats. (A,B) The level of LC3II (A) and p62 (B) was determined in both spinal cord and sciatic nerve of rats by western blot and the density of blots was quantified (the full-length gels were shown in Supplementary Figure S2A–D). (C) LC3 was stained in both spinal cord and sciatic nerve of rats and the representative images were shown. (D) MAP-2 and LC3 were co-stained in the spinal cord. White arrows represented MAP-2⁺/LC3⁺ cells in the fields. (E) Inhibition of autophagy by PIK III protects against HD-induced neurotoxicity and, meanwhile, blocks the neuroprotective effects of BMSC. VSC4.1 cells were treated with saline or HD (25 mM) for 24 h and then were treated with BMSC-CM (15%, v/v) or PIK III (20 uM) for additional 24 h. LDH analysis was used to detect the viability of VSC4.1 cell. (F) The level of LC3 II in VSC4.1 cells was determined in different groups and the density of blots was quantified (the full-length gels were shown in Supplementary Figure 2E). Quantified data are shown as mean ± sd. ^ap < 0.05, compared with control group; ^bp < 0.05, compared with HD group.