Fig. 6

Butyrate activates autophagy by inhibiting mTOR signaling. (A) The potential targets of butyrate were identified using the gutMGene database, with positive (red line) and negative (black line) regulation by butyrate. (B) A Venn diagram depicting the intersection of MG disease and butyrate targets. (C, D) Magnetically sorted CD4⁺CD25⁺CD127_low Tregs from HCs and patients with AChR MG were cultured for 5 days with or without 200 μM butyrate. Cells were harvested and the expression of p-mTOR, p-p70S6K, p62, and LC3 was determined by Western blot. (E) Immunofluorescent images of LC3 (red) on Tregs (scale bar = 20 μM)