Fig. 5

Cholesterol depletion induces autophagy. MDA-MB 231 cells were incubated with 5 mM MβCD in the presence of 3-methyl adenine (3-MA) for 6 h. Cell viability was measured by MTT and flow cytometer (a, b). Statistical analysis: One way anova, post hock test Tukey. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, **P < 0.001, N.S. not significant. c Relative mRNA expression of autophagy, necroptosis and apoptosis genes in MDA-MB-231 cell line. MDA-MB 231 cells were treated with 5 mM MβCD for 4 h in serum free media, total RNA was isolated, cDNA synthesized and relative quantitation was performed in applied bio system step one real time PCR system. Results are presented as mean ± S.E. of six independent experiments, each experiment performed in triplicates. Statistical analysis: paired t test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, N.S. not significant