Fig. 2

TSLP altered mitochondrial integrity and induced mitophagy in THP-1 cells. A Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of control (upper panels) and TSLP-treated THP-1 cells (lower panels). The blue arrows indicates the cristae structure of healthy mitochondria (upper right panel). The autophagic vacuoles contained damaged mitochondria-like structures in TSLP-treated cells (lower right panel, red arrows). Compared with the control group, TSLP treatment induced autophagic vacuoles in THP-1 cells. B The change in mitochondrial membrane potential upon TSLP treatment was measured by flow cytometry with JC-1 dye. A decrease in the red/green fluorescence intensity ratio indicated that TSLP promoted mitochondrial depolarization. C western blotting showed significantly decreased MTCO2 (mitochondrial inner membrane protein) expression upon TSLP treatment for 4, 6, and 8 h. D RT-qPCR was simultaneously performed to assess the cell-free mtDNA-79 and mtDNA-230 copies. E Mitophagy detection dye to quantify THP-1 cell mitophagy showed significantly increased fluorescence upon treatment with 40 ng/mL TSLP. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 between THP-1 cells with and without TSLP treatment