CASP9 and hydrops fetalis: To detect any crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy regulated by HF-ATS, cells were pretreated with a combination of caspase-8 and caspase-9 inhibitors (z-IETD-fmk+z-LEHD-fmk) or caspase-3 inhibitor (z-DEVD-fmk) alone to block apoptosis.