Whole protein extracts and Western blot (WB) analysis were performed using standard procedures as described in our previous study,9 (link) with detection using the enhanced chemiluminescence system (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY). Antibodies against SLC1A5 were used at 1:1,000 dilutions (Millipore, Billerica, MA), SN1 at 1:100 (Epitomics, Burlin-game, CA), LAT1 at 1:1,000 (Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA), Caspase 3 at 1:1,000 (Cell Signaling Technology), Caspase 9 at 1:1,000 (Cell Signaling Technology), LC3 1:1,000 (Medical and Biological Laboratories, Nagoya, Japan), Bcl-2 1:1,000 (Cell Signaling Technology) and Bax 1:1000 (Cell Signaling Technology).