Expression of Concern
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This article is currently under investigation. We strongly recommend that this article is not cited until the investigation is completed.
Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 17 pp 21251—21267
Betulinic acid induces autophagy-dependent apoptosis via Bmi-1/ROS/AMPK-mTOR-ULK1 axis in human bladder cancer cells
Figure 8. Bmi-1 overexpression partially reverses BA-induced ROS overproduction, migration inhibition, and autophagy-dependent apoptosis. Stable overexpression of Bmi-1 was established in EJ and T24 cells (EJ-con/EJ-Bmi-1 and T24-con/T24-Bmi-1) via lentiviral transduction before exposure to BA. (A) RT-qPCR analysis of relative Bmi-1 expression in control and Bmi-1-transduced cells. (B) Assessment of intracellular ROS contents. (C) Wound healing assay results. (D) Transwell migration analysis. (E) Western blot analysis of p-AMPKα, p-mTOR, p-ULK1, Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3, Bmi-1, LC3B-II, p62, and cleaved PARP expression. (F) Apoptosis determination by flow cytometry. *p<0.05, **p<0.01.