De novo phosphatidylcholine synthesis is required for autophagosome membrane formation and maintenance during autophagy

ABSTRACT

Macroautophagy/autophagy can enable cancer cells to withstand cellular stress and maintain bioenergetic homeostasis by sequestering cellular components into newly formed double-membrane vesicles destined for lysosomal degradation, potentially affecting the efficacy of anti-cancer treatments. Using ¹³C-labeled choline and ¹³C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy and western blotting, we show increased de novo choline phospholipid (ChoPL) production and activation of PCYT1A (phosphate cytidylyltransferase 1, choline, alpha), the rate-limiting enzyme of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) synthesis, during autophagy. We also discovered that the loss of PCYT1A activity results in compromised autophagosome formation and maintenance in autophagic cells. Direct tracing of ChoPLs with fluorescence and immunogold labeling imaging revealed the incorporation of newly synthesized ChoPLs into autophagosomal membranes, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria during anticancer drug-induced autophagy. Significant increase in the colocalization of fluorescence signals from the newly synthesized ChoPLs and mCherry-MAP1LC3/LC3 (microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3) was also found on autophagosomes accumulating in cells treated with autophagy-modulating compounds. Interestingly, cells undergoing active autophagy had an altered ChoPL profile, with longer and more unsaturated fatty acid/alcohol chains detected. Our data suggest that de novo synthesis may be required to increase autophagosomal ChoPL content and alter its composition, together with replacing phospholipids consumed from other organelles during autophagosome formation and turnover. This addiction to de novo ChoPL synthesis and the critical role of PCYT1A may lead to development of agents targeting autophagy-induced drug resistance. In addition, fluorescence imaging of choline phospholipids could provide a useful way to visualize autophagosomes in cells and tissues.     

Polar Characterization of Antifungal Peptides from APD2 Database

The increase in the number of pathogens due to fungi that are tolerant to therapies does not grow at the same speed than the advance on new antifungal drugs. In this sense, it is imperative to find anti-fungi peptides that are not detrimental to mammalian cells and have an effective toxicity to fungi. In this work, we use a method called polarity index, to identify anti-fungi peptides with an efficiency of 70 %. This method already published, initially identified selective antibacterial peptides from APD2 Database, and was characterized by developing a comprehensive analysis of the polar dynamics of a peptide from its linear sequence. Discriminating tests showed that in addition to being efficient in this identification, it was also good at rejecting other classifications of peptides found in that same database.