Fig. 4
Melatonin attenuated NaIO3-induced cell mitophagic apoptosis through HIF-1α/BNIP3/LC3B signaling. A The protein levels of the mitophagy markers BNIP3 and LC3B. After treatment, BNIP3 B and LC3B C expression and mitophagy D were detected by immunofluorescence. Scale bar = 50 μm. E, F, G ARPE-19 cells were transfected with BNIP3 siRNA, the cells were collected, and the apoptosis rate and MMP levels were measured. BNIP3 siRNA transfection was validated by western blotting. H ChIP assays with anti-HIF-1α antibodies were performed on chromatin extracted from drug-treated ARPE-19 cells. I, J Immunoprecipitation (IP) data after western blotting were used to investigate the relationship between the BNIP3 and LC3B proteins (β-actin was used as the internal control). All of the data are presented as the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. ** P < 0.01 compared with the si-control group, # P < 0.05 compared with the si-control + NaIO3 treatment group, and ## P < 0.05 compared with the si-BNIP3 + NaIO3 treatment group