Fig. 3

Autophagy was significantly induced by QIG in CRC cells. a After treatment with 0.3 mg/ml of QIG for 24 h, the ultrastructural analysis of HT-29 cells was assessed by TEM (yellow arrows indicated swollen mitochondria, red arrows indicated autophagosomes). b-c HT-29 cells were dose-dependently exposed to QIG, then the autophagy-related protein LC3-I/II, Beclin-1 and p62 were assessed by western blotting and quantified by Image J software. d HT-29 cells were administered with 0.3 mg/ml of QIG or positive control Rapamycin (50 nM) for 24 h and examined by confocal fluorescence microscopy after Cyto-ID® Green dye staining. e The quantitation analysis of (d) was performed by Image J software and the data were presented as mean ± SD (***P < 0.001). f The formation of AVOs was observed by fluorescence microscopy after AO staining in HT-29 cells treated with 0–0.5 mg/ml of QIG for 24 h. g The quantitation analysis of AVOs in (f) was performed by flow cytometry