Fig. 4. Effect of autophagy on memantine- and ifenprodil-mediated N-retinylidene-N-retinylethanolamine (A2E) degradation in ARPE-19 cells.
(A) ARPE-19 cells were transfected with non-specific siRNA (siNS) or siRNA targeting ATG5 mRNA (siATG5). The expression level was detected using Western blotting. (B) siATG5-transfected ARPE-19 cells were treated with 5 μM A2E three times at two-day intervals. Then, they were treated with 1 μM memantine, 1 μM ifenprodil, or vehicle (CTR) twice at 24 h intervals. A2E levels in ARPE-19 cells were observed using a confocal microscope. The fluorescence signals observed are Hoechst (blue) and A2E (green). Scale bar = 20 μm. (C) Fluorescence signals on A2E removal were quantified using Image J software. Representative results are presented as the mean ± SD. (n = 3). ***p < 0.001 vs. CTR.
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