Fig. 5

N-GQDs altered the expressions of ferroptosis-related genes and proteins in BV2 cells. a Differentially expressed genes associated with ferroptosis in BV2 cells treated with 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h were detected by microarray; The expressions of redox balance-related genes ptgs2 (b), gpx4 (c), slc7a11 (d), nox1 (e), ptges (f), nqo1 (g), acsl4 (h) and iron metabolism-related genes fth1 (i), tfrc (j), ftl (k) in BV2 cells treated with 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h were determined by qRT-PCR analysis; l The expressions of ferroptosis biomarker proteins SLC7A11, GPX4, ACSL4 and COX2 in BV2 cells treated with 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h were determined by western blotting analysis. Data are expressed as the mean ± SE of three independent experiments, performed in triplicate. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA and Dunnett’s t test (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. the control group)