For analyzing the protective role of SGLT2 inhibitors in cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity, HK-2 cells were seeded in 6-well or 96-well plates and treated with 20 μM cisplatin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) in the absence or presence of 1–25 μM canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, or empagliflozin (APExBIO, Houston, TX, USA) for 24 h.
To test whether canagliflozin induces autophagy or modulates AMPK-mTOR pathway and whether the protective effect of canagliflozin on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity occurs in autophagy or AMPK activation-dependent manner, the cells were seeded in 6-well or 96-well plates and treated with 20 μM cisplatin in the absence or presence of 10 μM canagliflozin and/or 10 μM chloroquine, 5 nM bafilomycin A (Sigma-Aldrich), or 1 μM compound C (APExBIO) for 24 h.