Stimulation of autophagy with lithium reduces A1AT-Z levels independent of FBG1.

<p>A1AT-Z was transfected with FBG1 or pCMV in Hepa1-6 cells, and 34 hours later the cells were either left untreated (Control) or treated with Rapamycin (Rap) or Lithium (LiCl) for 48 hours, then harvested, lysed, and separated on SDS-PAGE. Triplicate experiments are shown. A) Representative blot with bottom panel stained for total protein demonstrates equal amounts of protein were loaded in all the lanes. Upper panel shows decreased A1AT-Z after lithium-induced stimulation of autophagy but not rapamycin-induced autophagy. FBG1 does not further decrease A1AT-Z in the presence of lithium. B) ImageJ analysis showing mean values (n = 9) normalized to total protein.