Fig. 1

PSMD2 inhibits autophagy and promotes the proliferation of KYSE30. A The overexpression of PSMD2 reduced the formation of LC3B puncta. B The knockdown of PSMD2 increased the formation of LC3B puncta. Autophagy was induced in KYSE30 cells with PSMD2 overexpression or knockdown by FBS deprivation for 3 h or 20 h. The cells were then stained with the DAPGreen (green) with nucleus counterstained with Hoechst 33342 (blue). Scale bar: 30 μm. C, D PSMD2 inhibited autophagy under FBS deprivation. KYSE30 cells with PSMD2 overexpression (PSMD2) (C) or PSMD2 knockdown (shPSMD2) (D) were treated with CQ as indicated. The cell lysate was examined by immunoblotting to detect p62, LC3 and GAPDH. The LC3-II: LC3-I ratio was qualified with ImageJ software. E Effect of ATG7 knockdown on the proliferation of ESCC cells with PSMD2 depletion was examined by fluorescently staining with EdU (red). The nucleus was stained with DAPI (blue). The efficiency of ATG7 knockdown was shown in the upper right panel. The percentage of EdU-positive cells was shown in the bottom right panel. Scale bar: 100 μm. F Effect of ATG7 knockdown on colony formation of ESCC cells with PSMD2 depletion. N = 3. The data were presented as mean ± SD. G Effect of ATG7 knockdown in ESCC cells with PSMD2 depletion on cell proliferation. The cells were used to determine the cell proliferation rate by CCK-8 assay at the indicated time point. N = 3. The data were presented as mean ± SD, * for p < 0.05, ** for p < 0.01, *** for p < 0.001 and **** for p < 0.0001