Fig. 5

Autophagy induces HFSC glycolysis by upregulating Ldha expression and increasing Ldha activity. A–C The expression levels of glycolysis key enzymes in HFSCs cultured with control, 3-MA or Rapa for 24 h were detected by RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining and western blot, p value was conducted by 3-MA or Rapa versus Control. D, E RT-qPCR and western blot were used to detect the expression of Ldha in HFSCs transfected with Ldha siRNA, p value was conducted by Rapa versus Control. F Analysis of the concentrations of glucose and lactate in HFSCs supernatant cultured with Rapa or Rapa + si-Ldha for 24 h. P value was conducted by Rapa + si-Ldha versus Rapa. G, H Rapa promotes Ldha expression in vitro and in vivo (black arrow represents the location of HFSCs). G Representative immunohistochemical images of human hair follicles treated with control, 3-MA (24 h) or Rapa (24 h) stained with anti-Ldha antibody. H Representative immunohistochemical images of dorsal hair follicles treated with control, 3-MA(24 h) or Rapa(24 h) stained with anti-Ldha antibody. I Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of RNA-seq transcriptome data from HFSCs treated with control or Rapa shows enrichment for glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway (left) and the gene signature (right), with LDHAL6A as the top up-regulated gene. J Fold change of TE for glycolytic genes between Rapa-treated HFSCs with control HFSCs. K Relative Ldha activity in HFSCs treated with control, 3-MA (24 h) or Rapa (24 h), p value was conducted by 3-MA or Rapa versus Control. The data represent the means ± S.E.M from at least three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, determined by Student’s t-test