Fig 2: FTL promoted EMT in HCC (A) Transwell assays confirmed that FTL inhibition inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC cells. (B) Knockdown of FTL reduced colony numbers in HCC cells. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

Fig 3: Astaxanthin attenuates PM2.5-induced ferroptosis in heart. Representative images of fluorescence probe for ROS and its statistical results in heart tissue (A, B). Iron content were detected in the heart tissues (C). Western blots for TfR1, FTL, FTH1, GPX4, and SLC7A11 in heart tissue (D–H). For quantification, protein expression was normalized to GAPDH and the control was set to 1. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 6). *p < 0.05 difference from the control group; **p < 0.001 difference from the control group; #p < 0.05 difference from the PM2.5 exposure group; and ##p < 0.001 difference from the PM2.5 exposure group

Fig 4: Astaxanthin attenuates PM2.5-induced ferroptosis in H9C2 cells. A Representative fluorescence intensity images of ROS by DCFH-DA obtained by flow cytometry. B Flow cytometric analysis of fluorescence intensity. C Iron content were detected in the H9C2 cells. D–H Western blot bands showing TfR1, FTL, FTH1, GPX4 and SLC7A11 protein expression and the relative signal intensities in H9C2 cells. For quantification, the intensity was normalized to GAPDH and the control was set to 1. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 6). *p < 0.05 difference from control group; **p < 0.001 difference from the control group; #p < 0.05 difference from the PM2.5 exposure group; and ##p < 0.001 difference from the PM2.5 exposure group