Consistent with our results, other heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium have been shown to block the autophagic flux in kidney of female mice and mouse neuroblastoma cells, respectively.27, 29 We further confirmed this notion with an RFP-GFP-LC3 construct, which is dependent on the fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes, lysosomal acidification and degradation capacity.30 Data in Figure 2e indicated that the autophagic flux in Pb-treated rPT cells might be compromised most likely due to either defective fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes or impaired lysosomal function. The gene discussed is MAP1LC3A; the disease is neuroblastoma.