Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion inhibits colonic autophagy in Crohn’s disease via signaling involving distinct classes of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases

Figure 3 Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion at the Qihai (CV6) and bilateral Tianshu (ST25) acupoints regulates the expression of autophagy proteins in the colon tissues of Crohn’s disease rats. A: Expression changes of the microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta, sequestosome 1, coiled-coil myosin-like BCL2-interacting protein, and phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin proteins evaluated by Western blot. Six independent experiments were analyzed, and the data are presented as the mean ± SD or medians (P25, P75). ^aP < 0.01, ^bP < 0.05 vs NC group; ^cP < 0.01, ^dP < 0.05 vs CD group; B: Immunofluorescence images for LC3B (Red) in each group. Scale bar: 200 μm. NC: Normal control; CD: Crohn’s disease; HM: Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion; LC3B: Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; p62: Sequestosome 1; Beclin-1: Coiled-coil myosin-like BCL2-interacting protein; p-mTOR: Phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin.