溶酶体途径在细胞自噬过程中的功能意义

溶酶体具有高度保守的异质性,是细胞自噬的关键细胞器。细胞质中的蛋白质和细胞器最终在溶酶体降解,故溶酶体在维持细胞结构和功能的平衡方面起着重要生理作用。通过自噬溶酶体途径,细胞可清除某些病原体并参与抗原呈递。细胞自噬与异噬经溶酶体密切联系。自噬过程中溶酶体功能障碍与某些疾病和衰老等相关。对细胞自噬的溶酶体途径及其功能意义作了概述。     

分子伴侣介导的细胞自噬作用机制及其功能

分子伴侣介导的细胞自噬(chaperone-mediated autophagy,CMA)是通过溶酶体途径选择性降解胞质中带KFERQ-序列的蛋白质。CMA不仅为细胞在持久饥饿状态下提供能量,还在氧化性损伤保护、维持细胞内环境稳态等方面发挥作用。此外,CMA功能障碍还与某些疾病的发生有关。该文简要综述了这方面的研究进展。     

细胞自噬及其调控病原真菌致病毒力的研究进展

自噬是细胞通过自我降解、重新利用胞内蛋白质和细胞器的过程,有利于帮助生物体抵御饥饿或其他不良环境条件。以酵母等为对象的研究揭示细胞自噬可分为3种类型:巨自噬、微自噬以及分子伴侣介导的自噬,均具有重要的生理功能,其中针对巨自噬的机理研究最为深入广泛。不同自噬相关基因分别组成不同的功能模块,各自调控或完成自噬起始、自噬体形成、泛素化修饰和底物降解等。自噬活性的启动及不同底物的降解受表观遗传、转录、转录后及翻译后等多重调控。针对不同自噬相关基因功能的研究结果表明,不同病原真菌中存在与酵母自噬同源基因既保守又高度分化的生物学功能或效应。与酵母同源基因的生物学效应不同,不同关键自噬基因可分别参与调控病原真菌产孢、菌丝生长、细胞分化、侵染结构成熟,以及致病毒力等。自噬与致病毒力的关联性拓展了病原真菌致病机理的研究范畴,进一步研究病原菌自噬与寄主免疫互作的效应机制具有重要的生物学意义。     

细胞自噬研究进展

细胞自噬是真核生物在进化过程中高度保守、基于溶酶体的一种胞内降解途径,对维持细胞和生物体的稳态平衡有重要作用。研究表明,自噬参与生物体发育、免疫反应、代谢调节、细胞凋亡和衰老等多种过程。自噬功能异常与神经退行性疾病、肿瘤等的发生发展密切相关。近30年,我们对细胞自噬的认识无论是在分子机制上还是生理功能方面都有了长足的发展。为进一步加深对细胞自噬的认识,该文主要对细胞自噬的概念、自噬核心机器的组成及调控机制、自噬类型、生理功能及与疾病的关系作一简单综述。     

细胞自噬的基因调控及其与稻瘟病的关系

细胞自噬是真核生物中广泛存在的过程,并且在进化上十分保守.在真核生物分化和发育的过程中,它参与胞内细胞器和蛋白质的周转,被认为在细胞的形态建成方面发挥重要作用.现就细胞自噬的分子机制和功能做一介绍,并对稻瘟病菌细胞自噬的研究现状进行了回顾.     

细胞自噬与病毒感染

自噬是广泛存在于真核细胞内的一种溶酶体依赖性降解途径,在维持细胞存活、更新、物质再利用和内环境稳定中起着重要作用。目前已经发现大量新的自噬相关基因,同时发现自噬在病毒感染过程中发挥着重要的抗病毒作用:自噬可以将胞质中的病毒转运到溶酶体中,降解病毒;也可以将病毒核酸转运至胞内感受器上激活天然免疫;还可以将病毒抗原递呈给MHCⅡ类分子激活适应性免疫。自噬参与胞内微生物感染具有双重作用。一方面,自噬能够降解入侵的微生物,即以异源吞噬(xenophagy)的方式清除胞内的病原体;另一方面,有些微生物能够通过某些机制逃避自噬而利于自身存活。本文就细胞自噬及其与不同病毒感染关系的最新研究进展进行综述。     

细胞自噬及真菌中自噬研究概述

细胞自噬是真核生物中广泛存在的、主要依赖于溶酶体或液泡的保守的降解途径,通过降解细胞内过多或异常的蛋白、细胞器等以维持正常的细胞功能。近10年来自噬研究方面的飞速进展显示出自噬与癌症、神经退行性疾病、衰老及心脏病等人类疾病相关。与此同时,自噬在丝状真菌的生长、形态和发育等方面发挥着重要作用,特别是在丝状真菌的细胞分化过程中,自噬起到了关键性作用,如致病性生长、程序性细胞死亡及孢子形成。本文主要论述了什么是自噬,自噬的检测方法及以真菌为对象的自噬研究进展。     

植物细胞自噬研究进展

细胞自噬是真核生物中进化保守的对细胞内物质进行周转的重要过程,该过程中一些损坏的蛋白或细胞器被双层膜结构的自噬小泡包裹后送入溶酶体(动物)或液泡(酵母和植物)中进行降解并得以循环利用。植物中通过序列比对鉴定了诸多自噬相关基因并分离到了部分细胞自噬功能缺陷的突变体,这些研究均推进了我们对植物细胞自噬机制和功能的了解。本文主要综述了植物细胞自噬分子机制和生理功能的研究进展。     

细胞自噬在器官纤维化病变中的作用

自噬是细胞中一种进化上保守的生物学过程,通过降解受损的细胞器和多余的蛋白质使细胞在应激损伤时能够维持正常的平衡。它包括一系列连续的过程,如吞噬泡的形成与延伸、自噬体的成熟、自噬体与溶酶体的融合等。目前,对于调节自噬过程不同阶段的分子机制以及在疾病发展中作用的认识正逐渐加强。本文综述了近几年来细胞自噬在多种器官纤维化病变中的研究进展,着重整理归纳与疾病相关的发生机制,以期为纤维化疾病的治疗提供新的理论指导和临床思路。     

Autophagy

Multidisciplinary approaches are increasingly being used to elucidate the role of autophagy in health and disease and to harness it for therapeutic purposes. The broad range of topics included in the program of the Vancouver Autophagy Symposium (VAS) 2013 illustrated this multidisciplinarity: structural biology of Atg proteins, mechanisms of selective autophagy, in silico drug design targeting ATG proteins, strategies for drug screening, autophagy-metabolism interplay, and therapeutic approaches to modulate autophagy. VAS 2013 took place at the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, and was hosted by the CIHR Team in Investigating Autophagy Proteins as Molecular Targets for Cancer Treatment. The program was designed as a day of research exchanges, featuring two invited keynote speakers, internationally recognized for their groundbreaking contributions in autophagy, Dr Ana Maria Cuervo (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY) and Dr Jayanta Debnath (University of California, San Francisco). By bringing together international and local experts in cell biology, drug discovery, and clinical translation, the symposium facilitated rich interdisciplinary discussions focused on multiple forms of autophagy and their regulation and modulation in the context of cancer.     

Diurnal Rhythms Spatially and Temporally Organize Autophagy

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Three Distinct Types of Microautophagy Based on Membrane Dynamics and Molecular Machineries

Microautophagy is originally defined as lysosomal (vacuolar) membrane dynamics to directly enwrap and transport cytosolic components into the lumen of the lytic organelle. Molecular details of microautophagy had remained unknown until genetic studies in yeast identified a set of proteins required for the process. Subsequent studies with other experimental model organisms resulted in a series of discoveries that accompanied an expansion of the definition of microautophagy to also encompass endosomal membrane dynamics. These findings, however, still impose puzzling, non‐integrated images as to the molecular mechanism of microautophagy. By reviewing recent studies on microautophagy in various experimental systems, we propose the classification of microautophagy into three types, as the basis for developing a comprehensive view of the process.     

Ultrastructure of autophagy in plant cells

Just as with yeasts and animal cells, plant cells show several types of autophagy. Microautophagy is the uptake of cellular constituents by the vacuolar membrane. Although microautophagy seems frequent in plants it is not yet fully proven to occur. Macroautophagy occurs farther away from the vacuole. In plants it is performed by autolysosomes, which are considerably different from the autophagosomes found in yeasts and animal cells, as in plants these organelles contain hydrolases from the onset of their formation. Another type of autophagy in plant cells (called mega-autophagy or mega-autolysis) is the massive degradation of the cell at the end of one type of programmed cell death (PCD). Furthermore, evidence has been found for autophagy during degradation of specific proteins, and during the internal degeneration of chloroplasts. This paper gives a brief overview of the present knowledge on the ultrastructure of autophagic processes in plants.     

Selective endosomal microautophagy is starvation-inducible in Drosophila

Autophagy delivers cytosolic components to lysosomes for degradation and is thus essential for cellular homeostasis and to cope with different stressors. As such, autophagy counteracts various human diseases and its reduction leads to aging-like phenotypes. Macroautophagy (MA) can selectively degrade organelles or aggregated proteins, whereas selective degradation of single proteins has only been described for chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) and endosomal microautophagy (eMI). These 2 autophagic pathways are specific for proteins containing KFERQ-related targeting motifs. Using a KFERQ-tagged fluorescent biosensor, we have identified an eMI-like pathway in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that this biosensor localizes to late endosomes and lysosomes upon prolonged starvation in a KFERQ- and Hsc70-4- dependent manner. Furthermore, fly eMI requires endosomal multivesicular body formation mediated by ESCRT complex components. Importantly, induction of Drosophila eMI requires longer starvation than the induction of MA and is independent of the critical MA genes atg5, atg7, and atg12. Furthermore, inhibition of Tor signaling induces eMI in flies under nutrient rich conditions, and, as eMI in Drosophila also requires atg1 and atg13, our data suggest that these genes may have a novel, additional role in regulating eMI in flies. Overall, our data provide the first evidence for a novel, starvation-inducible, catabolic process resembling endosomal microautophagy in the Drosophila fat body.     

鱼类细胞自噬研究进展

自噬是广泛存在于真核生物中的生命现象,对于细胞的生长、分化、发育和维持细胞内环境稳态等方面具有重要意义。尽管对于作为低等脊椎动物的鱼类细胞自噬研究起步较晚,但近几年围绕其自噬的诱导、自噬相关基因表达及调控、鱼类病原诱导的自噬,特别是以斑马鱼为试验模型开展的自噬与发育调控关系等研究都取得了一些进展,就此进行综述。     

Endosomal microautophagy is an integrated part of the autophagic response to amino acid starvation

Starvation is a fundamental type of stress naturally occurring in biological systems. All organisms have therefore evolved different safeguard mechanisms to cope with deficiencies in various types of nutrients. Cells, from yeast to humans, typically respond to amino acid starvation by initiating degradation of cellular components by inducing autophagy. This degradation releases metabolic building blocks to sustain essential core cellular processes. Increasing evidence indicates that starvation-induced autophagy also acts to prepare cells for prolonged starvation by degrading key regulators of different cellular processes. In a recent study, we found that within the first hours of amino acid starvation cells elicit an autophagic response causing rapid degradation of specific proteins. The response is executed independently of both MTOR and canonical macroautophagy. Based on RNAi-mediated knockdown of essential components of the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) machinery and electron microscopy we conclude that the response relies on some sort of endosomal microautophagy, hence vesicle budding into endosomes. Substantiated by the different substrates that are selectively degraded by this novel pathway we propose that the response predominantly acts to prepare cells for prolonged starvation. Intriguingly, this includes shutting down selective macroautophagy in preparation for a massive induction of bulk macroautophagy.     

Autophagy in unicellular eukaryotes

Cells need a constant supply of precursors to enable the production of macromolecules to sustain growth and survival. Unlike metazoans, unicellular eukaryotes depend exclusively on the extracellular medium for this supply. When environmental nutrients become depleted, existing cytoplasmic components will be catabolized by (macro)autophagy in order to re-use building blocks and to support ATP production. In many cases, autophagy takes care of cellular housekeeping to sustain cellular viability. Autophagy encompasses a multitude of related and often highly specific processes that are implicated in both biogenetic and catabolic processes. Recent data indicate that in some unicellular eukaryotes that undergo profound differentiation during their life cycle (e.g. kinetoplastid parasites and amoebes), autophagy is essential for the developmental change that allows the cell to adapt to a new host or form spores. This review summarizes the knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of autophagy as well as the cytoplasm-to-vacuole-targeting pathway, pexophagy, mitophagy, ER-phagy, ribophagy and piecemeal microautophagy of the nucleus, all highly selective forms of autophagy that have first been uncovered in yeast species. Additionally, a detailed analysis will be presented on the state of knowledge on autophagy in non-yeast unicellular eukaryotes with emphasis on the role of this process in differentiation.