Fig. 8

CQDs induced multiple programmed cell deaths in brain of mice. (a, b) Representative images and the quantitative results of TUNEL positive cells indicating apoptotic and dead cells in different regions of brain; (c) Representative TEM images of OB, HIP and CS of the brain tissues showed remarkable alternations in neuronal cells after CQDs exposure. The black arrows indicate accumulated CQDs in lysosome with broken membrane, the red arrows indicate reduction and disappearance of mitochondrial ridge, the yellow arrows indicate collapse of mitochondrial membrane, the blue arrows indicate destroyed mitochondrion inside an autophagic vacuole (also known as autolysosome), the green arrows indicate dilated endoplasmic reticulum, the purple arrows indicate apoptotic body, the orange arrows indicate swollen mitochondria with broken ridge, the pink arrows indicate shrunken and dense mitochondria; Representative IHC staining showed the expression of caspase 3 (d), GSDMD (e), MLKL (f), GPx4 (g), FDX1 (h) and LC3 (i) in different regions of brain tissue section, as well as their IHC scores (j). Olfactory bulb (OB), Cortex (COR), Hippocampus (HIP), Corpus Striatum (CS), Midbrain (MB), Cerebellum (CE), Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc), Lateral Habenula Nucleus (LHB) and Zona Incerta (ZI). Data are showed as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001)