NO stabilizes and upregulates ULK1 protein expression.

(A) HUVECs were transfected with GFP or eNOS adenovirus for 48 h; (B) HUVECs were treated with A23187 (1 µM) for the indicated time; (C) HUVECs were treated with NONOate (50 µM) for the indicated time; (D) HUVECs were treated with CHX (5 µM) for the indicated time, followed by incubation of NONOate (50 µM) for 4 h; (E) HUVECs were treated with CHX (5 µM) for the indicated time, followed by incubation of A23187 (1 µM) for 4 h. The western blots are representative of three independent experiments. *represents p<0.05 vs control (n = 3); NS, not significant. GFP, green fluorescent protein; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; Ad, Adenovirus; CHX, cycloheximide.