| 1. |
- Antonucci, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Basal autophagy maintains pancreatic acinar cell homeostasis and protein synthesis and prevents ER stress.
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 112:45
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pancreatic acinar cells possess very high protein synthetic rates as they need to produce and secrete large amounts of digestive enzymes. Acinar cell damage and dysfunction cause malnutrition and pancreatitis, and inflammation of the exocrine pancreas that promotes development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a deadly pancreatic neoplasm. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that maintain acinar cell function and whose dysregulation can lead to tissue damage and chronic pancreatitis are poorly understood. It was suggested that autophagy, the principal cellular degradative pathway, is impaired in pancreatitis, but it is unknown whether impaired autophagy is a cause or a consequence of pancreatitis. To address this question, we generated Atg7Δpan mice that lack the essential autophagy-related protein 7 (ATG7) in pancreatic epithelial cells. Atg7Δpan mice exhibit severe acinar cell degeneration, leading to pancreatic inflammation and extensive fibrosis. Whereas ATG7 loss leads to the expected decrease in autophagic flux, it also results in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria, oxidative stress, activation of AMPK, and a marked decrease in protein synthetic capacity that is accompanied by loss of rough ER. Atg7Δpan mice also exhibit spontaneous activation of regenerative mechanisms that initiate acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM), a process that replaces damaged acinar cells with duct-like structures.
|
|
| 2. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
-
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
|
|
