Fig. 2

Statin − mediated IDE secretion from astrocytes is associated with an autophagy-based unconventional secretory pathway. a Quantification of ide mRNA levels by qPCR. b Autophagy activation in astrocytes by simvastatin. Anti-LC3 antibody was used to detect autophagy. Scale bar represents 5 μm. c Western blot analysis of secreted IDE levels from astrocytes after treatment with the autophagy inhibitor in the presence of simvastatin. d Quantitative analysis of Fig. 2c. Data were obtained from at least three replicates for each group (N = 3 experiments). e Western blot analysis of IDE levels in the media from Beclin1 knock-down astrocytes. f IDE enzymatic activity in the media from simvastatin and/or 3MA-treated cells. g Confocal microscopy images of IDE expression in the autophagosomes. Scale bar represents 8 and 6 μm (enlarged images). h Quantitative analysis of IDE in association with the autophagosome marker (LC3) with the Image J program (NIH, MD, USA). Data were obtained from at least three replicates (N = 3 experiments). ** p < 0.01 vs. vehicle-treated cells; # p < 0.05 vs. cells treated with simvastatin. n.s. indicates no significant difference