Fig. 1

FGF7/FGFR2 signalling induces autophagy. A, B MCF7, MCF7 FGFR2(−),T47D and T47D FGFR2(−) cells were incubated with FGF7 (50 ng/ml) for 10, 30 and 60 min. AMPKα, Raptor, ULK1 and p62 phosphorylation was detected by western blotting and quantified by densitometry. Quantitative data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. Statistical comparisons were made using 2-tailed Student’s t-test. C MCF7 and T47D cells were incubated with FGF7 (50 ng/ml) for 24–72 h. The quantification represents the relative p62/β-actin and LC3B-II/I expression levels, mean ± SD (n = 3), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Statistical comparisons were made using 2-tailed Student’s t-test. D MCF7 and T47D cells were incubated for 72 h with the presence of FGF7 (50 ng/ml), ± CQ, (1 μM) ± MG132 (2 μM). p62 expression was analysed by western blotting and densitometry. Quantitative data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. Statistical comparisons were made using 2-tailed Student’s t-test. E Quantification of LC3 positive puncta per cell (autophagosomes—yellow dots and autolysosomes—red dots) and GFP/RFP ratio in MCF7 cells transduced with RFP-GFP-LC3B vector and treated with FGF7 (50 ng/ml) for 24 h. Representative images were taken (scale bar 10 μm). Quantitative data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3), **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. Statistical comparisons were made using 2-tailed Student’s t-test