查看文章

To investigate the role of autophagy in the regulation of cell death in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs).

RASFs and osteoarthritis synovial fibroblasts (OASFs) were treated with thapsigargin (TG), an inducer of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. Then, 3‐methyladenine was used as an autophagy inhibitor and bafilomycin A1 as a lysosome inhibitor. Polyubiquitinated proteins, p62, and autophagy induction were evaluated by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence microscopy, and immunohistochemistry, respectively. OASFs were transfected with small interfering RNA targeting autophagy‐linked FYVE protein (ALFY). Cell death was evaluated by flow cytometry and a caspase 3 activity assay.

In RASFs, the induction of autophagy by TG and MG132 was increased compared to that in OASFs. Whereas autophagy promoted a caspase 3 …