Fig. 8

The ROS scavengers alleviated impairments of iron metabolism and redox balance caused by N-GQDs in BV2 cells. Representative fluorescent images of mitochondrial iron level (a) and mitochondrial lipid peroxidation (b) in BV2 cells treated with 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h pretreated with/without Trolox and MitoTEMPO. Nuclei are stained by DAPI (blue). Iron levels are detected by Mito-FerroGreen (green). Oxidative lipid are detected by LiperFluo (green). Mitochondria are marked by MitoTracker (red). Merging of the red and green color results in a yellow signal. Scale bars: 20 μm; The GSH/GSSG ratio (c) and the MDA content (d) in BV2 cells treated with 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h pretreated with/without Trolox and MitoTEMPO were measured by ELISA; e The expressions of ferroptosis marker proteins SLC7A11, GPX4, ACSL4 and COX2 in BV2 cells treated with 100 μg/mL N-GQDs for 24 h pretreated with/without Trolox and MitoTEMPO 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; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01, ###P < 0.001 vs. the 100 μg/mL N-GQDs group)