Email this page

Print this page

Autophagic Punctum

PtdIns(3,5)P₂ and autophagy in mouse models of neurodegeneration

Cole J. Ferguson, Guy M. Lenk and Miriam H. Meisler

This is an open-access article

 Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.

Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated that the phosphoinositide PtdIns(3,5)P₂ has an essential role in autophagy in the mammalian nervous system. This low abundance, signaling lipid is synthesized by an enzyme complex that is localized on the vacuole membrane in yeast and in the endosome/lysosome compartment in mammalian cells. In mice with mutations in FIG4 and VAC14, two components of the PtdIns(3,5)P₂ regulatory complex, autophagy intermediates accumulate in brain and spinal cord. The data indicate that PtdIns(3,5)P₂ is required for completion of basal autophagy in mammalian cells.

Punctum to: Ferguson CJ, Lenk GM, Meisler MH. Defective autophagy in neurons and astrocytes from mice deficient in PI(3,5)P₂. Hum Mol Genet 2009. PMID: 19793721; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddp460.

Authors

Cole J. Ferguson

Department of Human Genetics; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor MI USA

Guy M. Lenk

Department of Human Genetics; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor MI USA

Miriam H. Meisler Corresponding author: meislerm@umich.edu

Department of Human Genetics; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor MI USA

This is an open-access article

 Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.