Fig. 3

Lithium attenuated rotenone-induced dysfunction of mitochondria. Cells were pretreated with autophagy-related drugs for 24 h followed by rotenone exposure for another 24 h. The rate of cell apoptosis was measured by Annexin-V/PI staining (a) and the fluorescence intensity of DCFH was measured by flow cytometry in all groups (b). MitoTracker red CMXRos at a final concentration of 500 nM was used to visualize the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (c) and the relative fluorescence intensity was expressed (d). *P < 0.05 as compared with Con group; ^# P < 0.05 versus Rot alone, **P < 0.05 as compared with LiCl + Rot group; ^## P < 0.05 as compared with LiCl + Rot group (n = 6 in each group)