Autophagy,a guardian against neurodegeneration

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process responsible for the clearance of most long-lived proteins and organelles. Cytoplasmic components are enclosed by double-membrane autophagosomes, which subsequently fuse with lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy dysfunction may contribute to the pathology of various neurodegenerative disorders, which manifest abnormal protein accumulation. As autophagy induction enhances the clearance of aggregate-prone intracytoplasmic proteins that cause neurodegeneration (like mutant huntingtin, tau and ataxin 3) and confers cytoprotective roles in cell and animal models, upregulating autophagy may be a tractable therapeutic strategy for diseases caused by such proteins. Here, we will review the molecular machinery of autophagy and its role in neurodegenerative diseases. Drugs and associated signalling pathways that may be targeted for pharmacological induction of autophagy will also be discussed.     

自噬在细胞存活和死亡中的作用

自噬是亚细胞膜结构发生动态变化并经溶酶体介导对细胞内蛋白质和细胞器降解的过程.通过平衡细胞合成和分解代谢,自噬稳定细胞内环境,维持细胞的存活.然而,过度自噬可导致细胞发生Ⅱ型程序性细胞死亡.自噬与凋亡在细胞死亡过程中的关系十分密切.本文对自噬的过程及其在细胞存活和死亡中的作用作一综述.     

Autophagy protein Atg3 is essential for maintaining mitochondrial integrity and for normal intracellular development of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites

Autophagy is a cellular process that is highly conserved among eukaryotes and permits the degradation of cellular material. Autophagy is involved in multiple survival-promoting processes. It not only facilitates the maintenance of cell homeostasis by degrading long-lived proteins and damaged organelles, but it also plays a role in cell differentiation and cell development. Equally important is its function for survival in stress-related conditions such as recycling of proteins and organelles during nutrient starvation. Protozoan parasites have complex life cycles and face dramatically changing environmental conditions; whether autophagy represents a critical coping mechanism throughout these changes remains poorly documented. To investigate this in Toxoplasma gondii, we have used TgAtg8 as an autophagosome marker and showed that autophagy and the associated cellular machinery are present and functional in the parasite. In extracellular T. gondii tachyzoites, autophagosomes were induced in response to amino acid starvation, but they could also be observed in culture during the normal intracellular development of the parasites. Moreover, we generated a conditional T. gondii mutant lacking the orthologue of Atg3, a key autophagy protein. TgAtg3-depleted parasites were unable to regulate the conjugation of TgAtg8 to the autophagosomal membrane. The mutant parasites also exhibited a pronounced fragmentation of their mitochondrion and a drastic growth phenotype. Overall, our results show that TgAtg3-dependent autophagy might be regulating mitochondrial homeostasis during cell division and is essential for the normal development of T. gondii tachyzoites.     

Molecular mechanisms and physiological significance of autophagy during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion

Autophagy is an intracellular bulk degradation process whereby cytoplasmic proteins and organelles are degraded and recycled through lysosomes. In the heart, autophagy plays a homeostatic role at basal levels, and the absence of autophagy causes cardiac dysfunction and the development of cardiomyopathy. Autophagy is induced during myocardial ischemia and further enhanced by reperfusion. Although induction of autophagy during the ischemic phase is protective, further enhancement of autophagy during the reperfusion phase may induce cell death and appears to be detrimental. In this review we discuss the functional significance of autophagy and the underlying signaling mechanism in the heart during ischemia/reperfusion.     

Eat your heart out: Role of autophagy in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion

Autophagy is an important process in the heart which is responsible for the normal turnover of long lived proteins and organelles. Inhibition of autophagy leads to the accumulation of protein aggregates and dysfunctional organelles which can cause cell death. Autophagy occurs at low basal levels under normal conditions in the heart, but is rapidly upregulated in response to stress such as nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, and pressure overload. Autophagy is a prominent feature of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Although enhanced autophagy is often seen in dying cardiac myocytes, the functional significance of autophagy under these conditions is not clear. Upregulation of autophagy has been reported to protect cardiac cells against death as well as be the cause of it. Here, we review the evidence that autophagy can have both beneficial and detrimental roles in the myocardium, and discuss potential mechanisms by which autophagy provides protection in cells.     

Eat your heart out: Role of autophagy in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion

Autophagy is an important process in the heart which is responsible for the normal turnover of long lived proteins and organelles. Inhibition of autophagy leads to the accumulation of protein aggregates and dysfunctional organelles which can cause cell death. Autophagy occurs at low basal levels under normal conditions in the heart, but is rapidly upregulated in response to stress such as nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, and pressure overload. Autophagy is a prominent feature of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Although enhanced autophagy is often seen in dying cardiac myocytes, the functional significance of autophagy under these conditions is not clear. Upregulation of autophagy has been reported to protect cardiac cells against death as well as be the cause of it. Here, we review the evidence that autophagy can have both beneficial and detrimental roles in the myocardium, and discuss potential mechanisms by which autophagy provides protection in cells.     

You are what you eat: multifaceted functions of autophagy during C. elegans development

Autophagy involves the sequestration of a portion of the cytosolic contents in an enclosed double-membrane autophagosomal structure and its subsequent delivery to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy activity functions in multiple biological processes during Caenorhabditis elegans development. The basal level of autophagy in embryos removes aggregate-prone proteins, paternal mitochondria and spermatid-specific membranous organelles (MOs). Autophagy also contributes to the efficient removal of embryonic apoptotic cell corpses by promoting phagosome maturation. During larval development, autophagy modulates miRNA-mediated gene silencing by selectively degrading AIN-1, a component of miRNA-induced silencing complex, and thus participates in the specification of multiple cell fates controlled by miRNAs. During development of the hermaphrodite germline, autophagy acts coordinately with the core apoptotic machinery to execute genotoxic stress-induced germline cell death and also cell death when caspase activity is partially compromised. Autophagy is also involved in the utilization of lipid droplets in the aging process in adult animals. Studies in C. elegans provide valuable insights into the physiological functions of autophagy in the development of multicellular organisms.     

Molecular mechanisms and physiological significance of autophagy during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion

Autophagy is an intracellular bulk degradation process whereby cytoplasmic proteins and organelles are degraded and recycled through lysosomes. In the heart, autophagy plays a homeostatic role at basal levels, and the absence of autophagy causes cardiac dysfunction and the development of cardiomyopathy. Autophagy is induced during myocardial ischemia and further enhanced by reperfusion. Although induction of autophagy during the ischemic phase is protective, further enhancement of autophagy during the reperfusion phase may induce cell death and appears to be detrimental. In this review we discuss the functional significance of autophagy and the underlying signaling mechanism in the heart during ischemia/reperfusion.     

Autophagic and apoptotic response to stress signals in mammalian cells

Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic programme for degrading proteins and organelles. This process has been shown to act as a pro-survival or pro-death mechanism in different physiological and pathological conditions. Several stress stimuli can induce autophagy, such as nutrient deprivation or critical steps in development of lower and higher eukaryotes. Apoptosis is an orchestrated form of cell death in which cells are actively involved in their own demise. Again, stress is a positive regulator of apoptosis and, in particular, of its apoptosome-mediated mitochondrial pathway. Besides discussing the individual roles played by the key molecules involved in autophagy in mammals in response to stress signals, we discuss here the interrelations between autophagy and apoptosis under these conditions.     

自噬在肝脏蛋白质和脂质代谢中的作用

自噬是一个通过降解细胞组分如细胞器和蛋白质等以维持细胞存活和功能的重要的溶酶体途径。肝脏作为新陈代谢的中枢器官,肝脏高度依赖于自噬以发挥正常功能并防止疾病发展。肝细胞自噬的改变参与肝损伤,脂肪肝等肝病的病理变化,以自噬为靶点寻求治疗各种肝病的方法已成为热点研究领域,但自噬在肝脏蛋白质和脂质代谢中的作用极其机制尚不清楚。本文对自噬在肝脏蛋白质和脂质代谢中的作用的最新进展进行综述。     

The role of autophagy in mammalian development: cell makeover rather than cell death

Autophagy is important for the degradation of bulk cytoplasm, long-lived proteins, and entire organelles. In lower eukaryotes, autophagy functions as a cell death mechanism or as a stress response during development. However, autophagy's significance in vertebrate development, and the role (if any) of vertebrate-specific factors in its regulation, remains unexplained. Through careful analysis of the current autophagy gene mutant mouse models, we propose that in mammals, autophagy may be involved in specific cytosolic rearrangements needed for proliferation, death, and differentiation during embryogenesis and postnatal development. Thus, autophagy is a process of cytosolic "renovation," crucial in cell fate decisions.     

细胞自噬与肿瘤发生的关系

细胞自噬(autophagy)是将细胞内受损、变性或衰老的蛋白质以及细胞器运输到溶酶体进行消化降解的过程.正常生理情况下,细胞自噬利于细胞保持自稳状态;在发生应激时,细胞自噬防止有毒或致癌的损伤蛋白质和细胞器的累积,抑制细胞癌变;然而肿瘤一旦形成,细胞自噬为癌细胞提供更丰富的营养,促进肿瘤生长.因此,在肿瘤发生发展的过程中,细胞自噬的作用具有两面性.尽管大多数抑癌蛋白可以激活细胞自噬这一结论被广泛接受,但p53作为重要的抑癌蛋白,在细胞核和细胞浆不同的亚细胞定位中对细胞自噬有着截然相反的调控.对于细胞自噬和癌症发生之间关系亟待深入的研究,这将会有助于人类更好地认识并最终攻克癌症.本文将针对细胞自噬与肿瘤发生过程中主要的信号调节通路展开介绍.     

自噬及其在肺部疾病中作用研究进展

自噬作为一种新的细胞程序化死亡方式,在维持细胞内环境稳态中起着重要作用。它由溶酶体介导,对细胞内衰老细胞器或受损蛋白质进行再次利用,以补充细胞在"饥饿"状态下的物质供给。自噬曾被认为是细胞对氧化应激的随机自我保护性反应,然而最近研究发现自噬体的形成具有选择性和高度保守性的特点。目前研究发现自噬在COPD、肺气肿、肺纤维化、肺动脉高压、急性肺损伤、肺肿瘤等肺部疾病中起重要作用。本文通过分析总结自噬信号传导机制及其在肺部疾病中的相关作用,以阐明肺部疾病的可能发生机制,从而指导相关疾病的临床治疗。     

参与细胞自噬的蛋白质的翻译后修饰

细胞自噬是进化上高度保守的细胞分解代谢途径. 在代谢应激下激活,产生双层膜结构的自噬小体,将胞浆内受损细胞器和蛋白质包裹、转运至溶酶体降解,维持细胞内环境平衡,是一种典型的细胞质量控制机制.目前,经典自噬通路中的主要蛋白质已经明确.但代谢应激信号的输入引起这些蛋白质怎样的活性和功能变化,这些变化对自噬产生怎样的影响,却是知之甚少.本文从翻译后修饰角度对代谢应激状态下自噬过程中相关蛋白质的调节进行综述,有助于深入了解自噬过程.     

浮游植物细胞自噬作用特点及研究方法

自噬(Autophagy)是真核生物细胞中一类高度保守的、依赖于溶酶体或液泡途径对胞质蛋白和细胞器进行降解的生物学过程。细胞自噬除维持细胞稳态外,在细胞响应各种外界胁迫中也发挥重要作用。近年来,陆续发现浮游植物能够通过细胞自噬应答众多环境胁迫,并在浮游植物细胞中鉴定出了类似于哺乳动物细胞中的核心自噬功能单位。自噬作为一种独特的程序性细胞死亡(PCD)形式,对浮游植物遭受胁迫后的个体存活及种群延续具有至关重要的作用。因此,细胞自噬也将成为浮游植物研究领域的一个新的着力点。主要综述了浮游植物细胞中自噬的保守性、诱导因素、调控机制、自噬与凋亡的交互作用以及浮游植物自噬研究方法等研究进展。     

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β controls autophagy during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion

Autophagy is a catabolic process that degrades long-lived proteins, pathogens and damaged organelles. Autophagy is active in the heart at baseline and is further stimulated by stresses, such as nutrient starvation, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and heart failure. Baseline autophagy plays an adaptive role in the heart, and contributes to the maintenance of cardiac structure and function and the inhibition of age-associated abnormalities, by achieving quality control of proteins and organelles. Activation of autophagy during ischemia is beneficial because it improves cell survival and cardiac function. However, excessive autophagy with robust upregulation of BECN1 during reperfusion appears to enhance cell death, which is detrimental to the heart. We have shown recently that autophagy during prolonged ischemia and I/R is critically regulated by glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine kinase, in a phase-dependent manner. Here we discuss the role of GSK-3β in mediating autophagy in the heart.     

Autophagy: a barrier or an adaptive response to cancer

Macroautophagy or autophagy is a degradative pathway terminating in the lysosomal compartment after the formation of a cytoplasmic vacuole that engulfs macromolecules and organelles. The recent discovery of the molecular controls of autophagy that are common to eukaryotic cells from yeast to human suggests that the role of autophagy in cell functioning is far beyond its nonselective degradative capacity. The involvement of proteins with properties of tumor suppressor and oncogenic properties at different steps of the pathway implies that autophagy must be considered in tumor progression. Autophagy as a stress response mechanism protects cancer cells from low nutrient supply or therapeutic insults. Autophagy is also involved in the elimination of cancer cells by triggering a non-apoptotic cell death program, suggesting a negative role in tumor development. These two aspects of autophagy will be discussed in this review.     

Evaluation of autophagy using mouse models of brain injury

Autophagy is a homeostatic, carefully regulated, and dynamic process for intracellular recycling of bulk proteins, aging organelles, and lipids. Autophagy occurs in all tissues and cell types, including the brain and neurons. Alteration in the dynamics of autophagy has been observed in many diseases of the central nervous system. Disruption of autophagy for an extended period of time results in accumulation of unwanted proteins and neurodegeneration. However, the role of enhanced autophagy after acute brain injury remains undefined. Established mouse models of brain injury will be valuable in clarifying the role of autophagy after brain injury and are the topic of discussion in this review.     

细胞自噬与肿瘤

自噬是广泛存在于真核细胞内的一种细胞分解自身构成成分的生命现象.细胞内的双层膜结构与溶酶体结合后其内包裹的受损、变形或衰老细胞器蛋白质等被水解酶类降解.细胞自噬具有多种生理功能,生命体借此维持蛋白质代谢平衡及细胞环境稳定,这一过程在细胞清除废物、结构重建、生长发育调节中发挥重要作用. 细胞自噬也与肿瘤的存活和死亡等过程密切相关. 近年来对细胞自噬的研究有了较大的深入,本文主要对自噬体的形态和发生过程及其分子机制、信号调节通路、自噬研究的检测方法,以及自噬与细胞凋亡和肿瘤发生的关系等方面进行概述,以期较全面地了解细胞自噬作用和最新研究动态.     

PI3K/Akt/mTOR信号通路与自噬及肿瘤的关系

自噬是一种以胞质内出现双层膜结构包裹长寿命蛋白和细胞器的自噬体为特征的细胞“自我消化”过程,在维持细胞内稳态、发育、肿瘤发生和感染中发挥重要作用。近来,诸多研究表明,自噬作为一把“双刃剑”,对肿瘤的发生发展既有促进作用,也有抑制作用。PI3K/Akt/mTOR通路由PI3激酶(PI3K)、蛋白激酶B（PKB/Akt）和哺乳动物类雷帕霉素靶蛋白（mTOR）3个作用分子组成,是一个中心的调节机构,对肿瘤细胞的生长与增殖有促进作用,同时对自噬进行抑制。本文就PI3K/Akt/mTOR通路与自噬及肿瘤发生发展的关系作一综述。