Table of Contents

Volume 4, Issue 3

  April 1, 2008

  Pages 265 - 394

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 Issue Catalogue (MARC XML)

EDITOR'S CORNER

Open Access Article

Autophagy research on insects

Miklós Sass
Pages 265 - 267
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REVIEW SERIES: SPOTLIGHT ON VIRUSES

Open Access Article

Downregulation of autophagy by herpesvirus Bcl-2 homologs

Chengyu Liang, Xiaofei E. and Jae U. Jung
Pages 268 - 272
Abstract | PDF

The critical role of the cellular autophagy pathway in viral infection and pathogenesis has become increasingly apparent. Mounting evidences suggest that viruses have developed different strategies to meticulously modulate intracellular autophagy for their own benefits, thereby either promoting efficient viral replication or facilitating viral persistence. While our understanding of these strategies is still in its incipient stage, recent advances demonstrate that gamma herpesvirus Bcl-2 homolog (vBcl-2), which protects virus-infected cells from apoptosis, also suppresses cellular autophagy pathway through its direct interaction with the autophagy protein Beclin1. Interestingly, vBcl-2 has evolved to harbor the enhanced anti-autophagic activity compared to its host counterpart, suggesting an important role of cellular autophagy in response to viral infection and virus-associated pathogenesis. Thus, a detailed study of vBcl-2-mediated regulation of autophagy signal transduction pathway may lead to a better understanding of not only how virus escapes from host innate immunity but also how autophagy regulates viral infection and environmental stresses.

Open Access Article

What is the role of autophagy in HIV-1 infection?

Lucile Espert, Patrice Codogno and Martine Biard-Piechaczyk
Pages 273 - 275
Abstract | PDF

HIV-1 infection is characterized by a progressive CD4 T cell depletion. It is now accepted that apoptosis of uninfected bystander CD4 T lymphocytes plays a major role in AIDS development. Viral envelope glycoproteins (Env) are mainly involved in inducing this cell death process, but the mechanisms triggered by HIV-1 leading to immunodeficiency are still poorly understood. Recently, we have demonstrated that autophagy is a prerequisite for Env-mediated apoptosis in uninfected CD4 T cells, underlining its role in HIV-1 infection. However, occurrence of autophagy in HIV-1-infected cells has not yet been described. Several hypotheses are discussed, based on the comparison with data from other viral infections.

Open Access Article

Are nidoviruses hijacking the autophagy machinery?

Cornelis A.M. de Haan and Fulvio Reggiori
Pages 276 - 279
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy is an intracellular catabolic transport route conserved among all eukaryotic cells. It has multiple important physiological functions, one of which is to act as an immune mechanism against intracellular microbes.1,2 Bacteria and viruses targeted for destruction are sequestered into large double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes and subsequently delivered to the lysosomes where they are consumed by resident hydrolases. Unfortunately, conserved cellular pathways are often exploited by pathogens to facilitate their entry or replication, and autophagy is no exception. It has become clear that certain bacteria and viruses subvert this process to their advantage.3 Nidoviruses, which comprise coronaviruses and arteriviruses, might be among the successful. Long recognized as the cause of veterinary infections, this group of enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses is currently of considerable interest due to the emergence of new human coronaviruses, especially the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus. In this mini-review, we will summarize the so far limited number of studies that have demonstrated that double-membrane vesicles resembling autophagosomes are the sites of nidoviruses replication. In addition, we will discuss how the formation of these large vesicles might be induced.

Open Access Article

Viral evasion of autophagy

Anthony Orvedahl and Beth Levine
Pages 280 - 285
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy is an evolutionarily ancient pathway for survival during different forms of cellular stress, including infection with viruses and other intracellular pathogens. Autophagy may protect against viral infection through degradation of viral components (xenophagy), by promoting the survival or death of infected cells, through delivery of Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands to endosomes to activate innate immunity, or by feeding antigens to MHC class II compartments to activate adaptive immunity. Given this integral role of autophagy in innate and adaptive antiviral immunity, selective pressure likely promoted the emergence of escape mechanisms by pathogenic viruses. This review will briefly summarize the current understanding of autophagy as an antiviral pathway, and then discuss strategies that viruses may utilize to evade this host defense mechanism.

Open Access Article

Potential subversion of autophagosomal pathway by picornaviruses

Matthew P. Taylor and Karla Kirkegaard
Pages 286 - 289
Abstract | PDF

The RNA replication complexes of small positive-strand RNA viruses such as poliovirus are known to form on the surfaces of membranous vesicles in the cytoplasm of infected mammalian cells. These membranes resemble cellular autophagosomes in their double-membraned morphology, cytoplasmic lumen, lipid-rich composition and the presence of cellular proteins LAMP 1 and LC3. Furthermore, LC3 protein is covalently modified during poliovirus infection in a manner indistinguishable from that observed during bona fide autophagy. This covalent modification can also be induced by the expression of viral protein 2BC in isolation. However, differences between poliovirus-induced vesicles and autophagosomes also exist: the viral-induced membranes are smaller, at 200- 400 nm in diameter, and can be induced by the combination of two viral proteins, termed 2BC and 3A. Experimental suppression of expression of proteins in the autophagy pathway was found to viral yield, arguing that this pathway facilitates viral infection, rather than clearing it. We have hypothesized that, in addition to providing membranous surfaces for assembly of viral RNA replication complexes, double-membraned vesicles provide a topological mechanism to deliver cytoplasmic contents, including mature virus, to the extracellular milieu without lysing the cell.




BRIEF REPORT

Open Access Article

Altered macroautophagy in the spinal cord of SOD1 mutant mice

Liang Li, Xiaojie Zhang and Weidong Le
Pages 290 - 293
Abstract | PDF

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by selective loss of motor neurons (MNs). About 20% familial cases of ALS (fALS) carried the Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene mutation, which plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of fALS. There is evidence suggesting that macroautophagy can degrade mutated SOD1 in vitro. To investigate whether the mutant SOD1 can induce macroautophagy in vivo, we examined the LC3 processing in spinal cord and the activation status of macroautophagy in MNs of SOD1^G93A transgenic mice at different stages. Our data demonstrated that autophagy was activated in spinal cord of SOD1^G93A mice indicating a possible role of macroautophagy in the pathogenesis of ALS.




RESEARCH PAPERS

Open Access Article

Turnover of glycosomes during life-cycle differentiation of Trypanosoma brucei

Murielle Herman, David Pérez-Morga, Nicolas Schtickzelle and Paul A.M. Michels
Pages 294 - 308
Abstract | PDF

Protozoan Kinetoplastida, a group that comprises the pathogenic Trypanosoma brucei, compartmentalize several metabolic systems such as the major part of the glycolytic pathway, in multiple peroxisome-like organelles, designated glycosomes. Trypanosomes have a complicated life cycle, involving two major, distinct stages living in the mammalian bloodstream and several stages inhabiting different body parts of the tsetse fly. Previous studies on non-differentiating trypanosomes have shown that the metabolism and enzymatic contents of glycosomes in bloodstream-form and cultured procyclic cells, representative of the stage living in the insect’s midgut, differ considerably. In this study, the morphology of glycosomes and their position relative to the lysosome were followed, as were the levels of some glycosomal enzymes and markers for other subcellular compartments, during the differentiation from bloodstream-form to procyclic trypanosomes. Our studies revealed a small tendency of glycosomes to associate with the lysosome when a population of long-slender bloodstream forms differentiated into short-stumpy forms which are pre-adapted to live in the fly. The same phenomenon was observed during the short-stumpy to procyclic transformation, but then the process was fast and many more glycosomes were associated with the dramatically enlarged degradation organelle. The observations suggested an efficient glycosome turnover involving autophagy. Changes observed in the levels of marker enzymes are consistent with the notion that, during differentiation, glycosomes with enzymatic contents specific for the old life-cycle stage are degraded and new glycosomes with different contents are synthesized, causing that the metabolic repertoire of trypanosomes is, at each stage, optimally adapted to the environmental conditions encountered.

Open Access Article

The autophagy gene ATG5 plays an essential role in B lymphocyte development

Brian C. Miller, Zijiang Zhao, Linda M. Stephenson, Ken Cadwell, Heather H. Pua, Heung Kyu Lee, Noboru Mizushima, Akiko Iwasaki, You-Wen He, Wojciech Swat and Herbert W. Virgin, IV
Pages 309 - 314
Abstract | PDF

Macroautophagy (herein autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved process, requiring the gene ATG5, by which cells degrade cytoplasmic constituents and organelles. Here we show that ATG5 is required for efficient B cell development and for the maintenance of B-1a B cell numbers. Deletion of ATG5 in B lymphocytes using Cre-LoxP technology or repopulation of irradiated mice with ATG5^-/- fetal liver progenitors resulted in a dramatic reduction in B-1 B cells in the peritoneum. ATG5^-/- progenitors exhibited a significant defect in B cell development at the pro- to pre-B cell transition, although a proportion of pre-B cells survived to populate the periphery. Inefficient B cell development in the bone marrow was associated with increased cell death, indicating that ATG5 is important for B cell survival during development. In addition, B-1a B cells require ATG5 for their maintenance in the periphery. We conclude that ATG5 is differentially required at discrete stages of development in distinct, but closely related, cell lineages.

Open Access Article

Compensatory activation of ERK1/2 in Atg5-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts suppresses oxidative stress-induced cell death

Jong-Ok Pyo, Jihoon Nah, Hyo-Jin Kim, Ho-June Lee, Jungun Heo, Heuiran Lee and Yong-Keun Jung
Pages 315 - 321
Abstract | PDF

Despite of the increasing evidence that oxidative stress may induce non-apoptotic cell death or autophagic cell death, the mechanism of this process is unclear. Here, we report a role and a down-stream molecular event of Atg5 during oxidative stress-induced cell death. Compared to wild type (WT) cells, Atg5-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts (Atg5^-/- MEFs) and Atg5 knockdown HT22 neuronal cells were more resistant to cell death induced by H₂O₂. On the contrary, Atg5^-/- MEFs were as sensitive to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cycloheximide as WT cells, and were more sensitive to cell death triggered by amino acid-deprivation than WT MEFs. Treatment with H₂O₂ induced the recruitment of a GFP-LC3 fusion protein and conversion of LC3 I to LC3 II, correlated with the extent of autophagosome formation in WT cells, but much less in Atg5-deficient cells. Among stress kinases, ERK1/2 was markedly activated in Atg5^-/- MEFs and Atg5 knockdown HT22 and SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. The inhibition of ERK1/2 by MEK1 inhibitor (PD98059) or dominant negative ERK2 enhanced the susceptibility of Atg5^-/- MEFs to H₂O₂-induced cell death. Further, reconstitution of Atg5 sensitized Atg5^-/- MEFs to H₂O₂ and suppressed the activation of ERK1/2. These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of Atg5 deficiency on cell death is attributable by the compensatory activation of ERK1/2 in Atg5^-/- MEFs during oxidative stress-induced cell death.

Open Access Article

A method to measure cardiac autophagic flux in vivo

Eri Iwai-Kanai, Hua Yuan, Chengqun Huang, M. Richard Sayen, Cynthia N. Perry-Garza, Lucy Kim and Roberta A. Gottlieb
Pages 322 - 329
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy, a highly conserved cellular mechanism wherein various cellular components are broken down and recycled through lysosomes, has been implicated in the development of heart failure. However, tools to measure autophagic flux in vivo have been limited. Here, we tested whether monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and the lysosomotropic drug chloroquine could be used to measure autophagic flux in both in vitro and in vivo model systems. Using HL-1 cardiac-derived myocytes transfected with GFP-tagged LC3 to track changes in autophagosome formation, autophagy was stimulated by mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. Administration of chloroquine to inhibit lysosomal activity enhanced the rapamycin-induced increase in the number of cells with numerous GFP-LC3-positive autophagosomes. The chloroquine-induced increase of autophagosomes occurred in a dose-dependent manner between 1 µM and 8 µM, and reached a maximum 2 hour after treatment. Chloroquine also enhanced the accumulation of autophagosomes in cells stimulated with hydrogen peroxide, while it attenuated that induced by Bafilomycin A₁, an inhibitor of V-ATPase that interferes with fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes. The accumulation of autophagosomes was inhibited by 3-methyladenine, which is known to inhibit the early phase of the autophagic process. Using transgenic mice expressing mCherry-LC3 exposed to rapamycin for 4 hr, we observed an increase in mCherry-LC3-labeled autophagosomes in myocardium, which was further increased by concurrent administration of chloroquine, thus allowing determination of flux as a more precise measure of autophagic activity in vivo. MDC injected 1 hr before sacrifice colocalized with mCherry-LC3 puncta, validating its use as a marker of autophagosomes. This study describes a method to measure autophagic flux in vivo even in non-transgenic animals, using MDC and chloroquine.

Open Access Article

Longevity pathways converge on autophagy genes to regulate life span in Caenorhabditis elegans

Márton L. Tóth, Tímea Sigmond, Éva Borsos, János Barna, Péter Erdélyi, Krisztina Takács-Vellai, László Orosz, Attila L. Kovács, György Csikós, Miklós Sass and Tibor Vellai
Pages 330 - 338
Abstract | PDF

Aging is a multifactorial process with many mechanisms contributing to the decline. Mutations decreasing insulin/IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) or TOR (target of rapamycin) kinase-mediated signaling, mitochondrial activity and food intake each extend life span in divergent animal phyla. Understanding how these genetically distinct mechanisms interact to control longevity is a fundamental and fascinating problem in biology. Here we show that mutational inactivation of autophagy genes, which are involved in the degradation of aberrant, damaged cytoplasmic constituents accumulating in all aging cells, accelerates the rate at which the tissues age in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. According to our results Drosophila flies deficient in autophagy are also short-lived. We further demonstrate that reduced activity of autophagy genes suppresses life span extension in mutant nematodes with inherent dietary restriction, aberrant insulin/IGF-1 or TOR signaling, and lowered mitochondrial respiration. These findings suggest that the autophagy gene cascade functions downstream of and is inhibited by different longevity pathways in C. elegans, therefore, their effects converge on autophagy genes to slow down aging and lengthen life span. Thus, autophagy may act as a central regulatory mechanism of animal aging.

Open Access Article

Autophagy protein 6 (ATG6) is required for pollen germination in Arabidopsis thaliana

Nicola J. Harrison-Lowe and Laura J. Olsen
Pages 339 - 348
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy is an intracellular recycling pathway that extends the life of an organism in hostile growth conditions. Yeast autophagy protein 6 (Atg6/Vps30) is required for formation of autophagosomes during starvation. Here we show that the Arabidopsis ATG6 homolog is an essential gene required for pollen germination and plant development. Analysis of multiple atg6 lines of Arabidopsis containing T-DNA inserts indicated that the homozygous atg6 plants were never recovered and heterozygous plants displayed variable growth phenotypes. atg6 heterozygous pollen test crosses confirmed that a male gametophyte defect was responsible for the loss of homozygous segregants. PCR performed on the pollen samples showed that the T-DNA was present, suggesting the defect occurs after microsporogenesis. Furthermore, plants homozygous for qrt1(-/-) and heterozygous for atg6 produced tetrads that were trinucleate and stained uniformly with Alexander stain. qrt1(-/-)/atg6(+/-) pollen grains exhibited greatly decreased germination efficiencies in vitro. In addition, defective pollen grains were positive for GUS activity (encoded by the insertional T-DNA) indicating that they were the atg6(-) segregants. Finally, a series of in vivo pollen tube guidance experiments suggested no additional pollen defects during pollen tube growth or guidance. Whether ATG6 acts in an autophagy-dependent or independent manner during pollen development, these data suggest novel connections between plant stress responses and reproductive biology.




ARTICLE ADDENDA

Open Access Article

A specific pathway inducing autophagic cell death is marked by an IP3R mutation

David Lam and Pierre Golstein
Pages 349 - 350
Abstract | PDF

Three main advantages make Dictyostelium a very favorable model to study the induction of autophagic cell death in vitro. First, its small, sequenced and haploid genome facilitates genetic approaches. Second, the Dictyostelium genome does not encode the two main molecular families involved in apoptosis (caspases and bcl-2 family), which therefore cannot interfere in this case with autophagic cell death. Third, induction of autophagic cell death follows in this case a two-step process, namely starvation-induced sensitization leading to autophagy but not to death, followed by a DIF-1-induced pathway leading to cell death proper. The latter, DIF-1-induced pathway is defined experimentally, through sequential additions, and most important also genetically, through random mutagenesis leading in particular to the preparation and study of an iplA mutant. The iplA gene encodes the IP3 Receptor, and its mutation leads to the absence of vacuolization and of death when autophagic cell death is triggered. Further study of the DIF-1 pathway should shed additional light on the induction of autophagic cell death (as opposed to that of just autophagy) in Dictyostelium and by extension perhaps in other organisms.

Addendum to: Lam D, Kosta A, Luciani MF, Golstein P. The IP3 receptor is required to signal autophagic cell death. Mol Biol Cell 2008;10.1091/mbc.E07-08-0823.

Open Access Article

Detachment-induced autophagy during anoikis and lumen formation in epithelial acini

Jayanta Debnath
Pages 351 - 353
Abstract | PDF

The individual units (called acini) comprising glandular epithelium possess a hollow lumen that is filled in early epithelial cancers. While investigating the generation of this hollow lumen using an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) epithelial cell culture model, we observed extensive autophagy in dying cells during lumen formation, and thus, proposed that excessive self-eating may promote cell death in the lumen. However, we now reassess this hypothesis. Because cells in the lumen die due to extracellular matrix (ECM) deprivation (anoikis), we tested if autophagy is regulated by ECM detachment. We discovered that detachment strongly induces autophagy in epithelial cells, even when apoptosis is inhibited by Bcl-2 expression. RNAi-mediated depletion of autophagy-related (ATG) genes inhibits detachment-induced autophagy, resulting in increased apoptosis and reduced clonogenic recovery following anoikis. Similarly, during 3D morphogenesis, ATG-depletion enhances luminal apoptosis and fails to elicit long-term luminal survival and filling, even when combined with apoptotic inhibition. Thus, autophagy promotes epithelial cell survival during anoikis. These results broach the possibility that autophagy contributes to the survival of tumor cells lacking appropriate matrix contact, either during early carcinoma formation or in the later stages of dissemination and metastasis.

Addendum to: Fung C, Lock R, Gao S, Salas E, Debnath J. Induction of autophagy during extracellular matrix detachment promotes cell survival. Mol Biol Cell 2008; In press.

Open Access Article

NIX induces mitochondrial autophagy in reticulocytes

Ji Zhang and Paul Ney
Pages 354 - 356
Abstract | PDF

The controlled elimination of defective mitochondria is necessary for the health of long-lived post-mitotic cells, like cardiomyocytes and neurons. Mitochondrial elimination also occurs during the course of normal development, in lens epithelial and erythroid cells. Strikingly, at the final stage of erythroid cell maturation, newly formed erythrocytes, also known as reticulocytes, eliminate their entire cohort of mitochondria. We have employed this model to investigate the mechanism of programmed mitochondrial clearance. NIX (BNIP3L) is a Bcl-2-related protein that is upregulated during terminal erythroid differentiation.^1,2 NIX-deficient reticulocytes have a significant defect of mitochondrial clearance. Consistent with the ability of NIX to cause mitochondrial depolarization, ^3,4 we show that mitochondria are depolarized in wild type but not NIX deficient reticulocytes. NIX does not function through established proapoptotic pathways, nor does it mediate the induction of autophagy in erythroid cells. Rather, NIX is required for the selective incorporation of mitochondria into autophagosomes. Elucidation of the mechanism of this effect will improve our understanding of the role of autophagy in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis.

Addendum to: Schweers RL, Zhang J, Randall MS, Loyd MR, Li W, Dorsey FC, Kundu M, Opferman JT, Cleveland JL, Miller JL, Ney PA. NIX is required for programmed mitochondrial clearance during reticulocyte maturation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007; 104:19500-5.

Open Access Article

Drosophila Atg7: Required for stress resistance, longevity and neuronal homeostasis, but not for metamorphosis

Gábor Juhász and Thomas P. Neufeld
Pages 357 - 358
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy, the lysosomal degradation and recycling of self material, has been implicated in a number of developmental and pathological conditions including aging, cancer, neurodegeneration, and insect metamorphosis. Surprisingly, Atg7 mutant flies are able to complete metamorphosis with only a slight delay, despite strongly reduced autophagy levels. Similarly, developmental elimination of the larval midgut proceeds with normal morphology, suggesting that animals can compensate for reduced autophagy during development. Atg7 mutant adults are hypersensitive to starvation and oxidative stress, live shorter, and accumulate ubiquitin-positive aggregates in the brain that lead to a progressive decline of neuronal function and cell death. These results suggest that in Drosophila, normal levels of autophagy may play a more important role in the homeostasis of certain terminally differentiated cells and stress survival than during development.

Addendum to: Juhász G, Érdi B, Sass M, Neufeld TP. Atg7-dependent autophagy promotes neuronal health, stress tolerance, and longevity but is dispensable for metamorphosis in Drosophila. Genes Dev 2007; 21:3061-6.

Open Access Article

Autophagy functions in programmed cell death

Deborah L. Berry and Eric H. Baehrecke
Pages 359 - 360
Abstract | PDF

Autophagic cell death is a prominent morphological form of cell death that occurs in diverse animals. Autophagosomes are abundant during autophagic cell death, yet the functional role of autophagy in cell death has been enigmatic. We find that autophagy and the Atg genes are required for autophagic cell death of Drosophila salivary glands. Although caspases are present in dying salivary glands, autophagy is required for complete cell degradation. Further, induction of high levels of autophagy results in caspase-independent autophagic cell death. Our results provide the first in vivo evidence that autophagy and the Atg genes are required for autophagic cell death and confirm that autophagic cell death is a physiological death program that occurs during development.

Addendum to: Berry DL, Baehrecke EH. Growth arrest and autophagy are required for programmed salivary gland cell degradation in Drosophila. Cell 2007; 131:1137-48.

Open Access Article

Blocking autophagy to prevent parasite differentiation: A possible new strategy for fighting parasitic infections?

Vanina E. Alvarez, Gregor Kosec, Celso Sant'Anna, Vito Turk, Juan J. Cazzulo and Boris Turk
Pages 361 - 363
Abstract | PDF

The genome of Trypanosoma cruzi was surveyed for autophagy-related genes. We have identified all the essential genes except for the Atg12 conjugation system and demonstrated functionality of the putative ATG4 and ATG8 homologs. TcAtg4.1 was primarily involved in the proteolytic processing of TcAtg8.1, the ATG8-homolog that was found to be localized to autophagosomal membranes during starvation. Autophagy was also found to be strongly upregulated during differentiation between developmental stages, a process that is essential for the propagation of the parasite. Based on our work, new strategies for treatment of Chagas disease, a chronic debilitating condition still without suitable chemotherapy, can be envisioned.

Addendum to: Alvarez VE, Kosec G, Sant'Anna C, Turk V, Cazzulo JJ, Turk B. Autophagy is involved in nutritional stress response and differentiation in Trypanosoma cruzi. J Biol Chem 2008; DOI 10.1074/jbc.M708474200.

Open Access Article

PERK-dependent regulation of HSP70 expression and the regulation of autophagy

Margaret A. Park, David T. Curiel, Constantinos Koumenis, Martin Graf, Ching-Shih Chen, Paul B. Fisher, Steven Grant and Paul Dent
Pages 364 - 367
Abstract | PDF

The manuscript by Park et al. (Mol. Pharm. (2008) mol.107.042697 / PMID: 18182481) further defines the mechanism(s) by which OSU-03012 (OSU) kills transformed cells. It notes that in PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase null cells (PERK^-/-) the lethality of OSU is attenuated. OSU enhances the expression of ATG5 in a PERK-dependent fashion and promotes the ATG5-dependent formation of vesicles containing LC3, followed by a subsequent cleavage of cathepsin B and a cathepsin B-dependent formation of low pH intracellular vesicles; cathepsin B is activated and released into the cytosol, and genetic suppression of cathepsin B or AIF function significantly suppresses cell killing. In parallel, OSU causes PERK-dependent increases in HSP70 expression and decreases in HSP90 and Grp78/BiP expression. Inhibition of HSP70 expression enhances OSU toxicity and over-expression of HSP70 suppresses OSU-induced low pH vesicle formation and lethality. Thus, in this system PERK signaling promotes autophagy, which is causally linked to lysosomal dysfunction, cathepsin activation and cell death. However, in parallel, PERK signaling acts to suppress autophagy and lysosomal dysfunction by increasing the expression of HSP70. These findings may help explain why, in a cell type and stimulus-dependent fashion; autophagy has been noted to act either as a protective or as a toxic signal in cells.

Addendum to: Park M, Yacoub A, Rahmani M, Zhang G, Hart L, Hagan M, Calderwood S, Sherman M, Koumenis C, Spiegel S, Chen CS, Graf M, Curiel D, Fisher P, Grant S, Dent P. OSU-03012 stimulates PERK-dependent increases in HSP70 expression, attenuating its lethal actions in transformed cells. Mol Pharmacol 2008; Epub ahead of print.

Open Access Article

Avoiding death by autophagy: Interactions of Listeria monocytogenes with the macrophage autophagy system

Cheryl L. Birmingham, Darren E. Higgins and John H. Brumell
Pages 368 - 371
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy restricts the growth of a variety of intracellular pathogens. However, cytosol-adapted pathogens have evolved ways to evade restriction by this innate immune mechanism. Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen that utilizes a cholesterol-dependent pore-forming toxin, listeriolysin O (LLO), to escape from the phagosome. Autophagy targets L. monocytogenes in LLO-damaged phagosomes and also in the cytosol under some experimental conditions. However, this bacterium has evolved multiple mechanisms to evade restriction by autophagy, including actin-based motility in the cytosol and an as yet undefined mechanism mediated by bacterial phospholipases C’s (PLCs). A population of L. monocytogenes with inefficient LLO activity forms Spacious Listeria-containing Phagosomes (SLAPs), which are autophagosome-like compartments that do not mature, allowing slow bacterial growth within enlarged vesicles. SLAPs may represent a stalemate between bacterial LLO action and the host autophagy system, resulting in persistent infection.

Addendum to: Birmingham CL, Canadien V, Gouin E, Troy EB, Yoshimori T, Cossart P, Higgins DE, Brumell JH. Listeria monocytogenes evades killing by autophagy during colonization of host cells. Autophagy 2007; 3:442-51. and Birmingham CL, Canadien V, Kaniuk NA, Steinberg BE, Higgins DE, Brumell JH. Listeriolysin O allows Listeria monocytogenes replication in macrophage vacuoles. Nature 2008; 451:350-4.

Open Access Article

Ubiquitination of α-synuclein and autophagy in Parkinson's disease

Simone Engelender
Pages 372 - 374
Abstract | PDF

α-synuclein is mutated in Parkinson's disease (PD) and is found in cytosolic inclusions, called Lewy bodies, in sporadic forms of the disease. A fraction of α-synuclein purified from Lewy bodies is monoubiquitinated, but the role of this monoubiquitination has been obscure. We now review recent data indicating a role of α-synuclein monoubiquitination in Lewy body formation and implicating the autophagic pathway in regulating these processes. The E3 ubiquitin-ligase SIAH is present in Lewy bodies and monoubiquitinates α-synuclein at the same lysines that are monoubiquitinated in Lewy bodies. Monoubiquitination by SIAH promotes the aggregation of α-synuclein into amorphous aggregates and increases the formation of inclusions within dopaminergic cells. Such effect is observed even at low monoubiquitination levels, suggesting that monoubiquitinated α-synuclein may work as a seed for aggregation. Accumulation of monoubiquitinated α-synuclein and formation of cytosolic inclusions is promoted by autophagy inhibition and to a lesser extent by proteasomal and lysosomal inhibition. Monoubiquitinated α-synuclein inclusions are toxic to cells and recruit PD-related proteins, such as synphilin-1 and UCH-L1. Altogether, the new data indicate that monoubiquitination might play an important role in Lewy body formation. Decreasing α-synuclein monoubiquitination, by preventing SIAH function or by stimulating autophagy, constitutes a new therapeutic strategy for Parkinson's disease.

Addendum to: Rott R, Szargel R, Haskin J, Shani V, Shainskaya A, Manov I, Liani E, Avraham E, Engelender S. Monoubiquitination of α-synuclein by SIAH promotes its aggregation in dopaminergic cells. J Biol Chem 2007; Epub ahead of print.

Open Access Article

Inclusion bodies and autophagosomes: Are ER-derived protective organelles different than classical autophagosomes?

Susana Granell and Giulia Baldini
Pages 375 - 377
Abstract | PDF

A hallmark of some endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-storage diseases is the formation of inclusion bodies (IBs) that are membrane-limited. The nature and function of the IBs has started to be investigated. We have recently found that sequestration of mutated α1-antitrypsin (ATZ) into IBs is a cell protective mechanism that maintains ER function. We also found that IBs are ER-derived and yet separate from the main ER and do not have markers of autophagosomes and lysosomes. We propose that formation of the IBs is a quality control mechanism that leads to storage of unwanted proteins outside the secretory pathway by a mechanism different than direct autophagosome formation from the ER.

Addendum to: Granell S, Baldini G, Mohammad S, Nicolin V, Narducci P, Storrie B, Baldini G. Sequestration of mutated Éø-1-antitrypsin into inclusion bodies is a cell protective mechanism to maintain endoplasmic reticulum function. Mol Biol Cell 2008; 19:571-85.

Open Access Article

Coordinate activation of autophagy and the proteasome pathway by FoxO transcription factor

Jinghui Zhao, Jeffrey J. Brault, Andreas Schild and Alfred L. Goldberg
Pages 378 - 380
Abstract | PDF

The rapid loss of muscle mass, which occurs with disuse and systemically with fasting, cancer and many other diseases, results primarily from accelerated breakdown of muscle proteins. In atrophying muscles, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway catalyzes the accelerated degradation of myofibrillar proteins, but the possible importance of the autophagic/lysosomal pathway in atrophy has received little attention. Our prior studies demonstrate that activation of FoxO transcription factors is essential for muscle atrophy, and that activated FoxO3 by itself causes dramatic atrophy of muscles and cultured myotubes via transcription of a set of atrophy-related genes (“atrogenes”) including critical ubiquitin ligases. Using selective inhibitors, we measured isotopically the actual contribution of proteasomes and lysosomes to the FoxO3-induced increase in protein breakdown in myotubes and found that FoxO3 coordinately activates both proteolytic systems, but especially lysosomal proteolysis. Activated FoxO3 stimulates autophagy through a transcription-dependent mechanism and increases the transcription of many autophagy-related genes, which are also induced in mouse muscles atrophying due to denervation or fasting. Thus, in atrophying muscles, decreased IGF1-PI3K-Akt signaling stimulates autophagy, not only through mTOR, but also more slowly by FoxO3-dependent transcription. These findings on muscle provide the first evidence for coordinate regulation of proteasomal and lysosomal systems, although in neuronal and hepatic cells, FoxO3 stimulates the autophagic process selectively.

Addendum to: Zhao J, Brault JJ, Schild A, Cao P, Sandri M, Schiaffino S, Lecker SH, Goldberg AL. FoxO3 coordinately activates protein degradation by the autophagic/lysosomal and proteasomal pathways in atrophying muscle cells. Cell Metab 2007; 6:472-83.

Open Access Article

Differences in glucose sensing and signaling for pexophagy between the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Volodymyr Y. Nazarko, Kateryna O. Futej, Johan M. Thevelein and Andrei A. Sibirny
Pages 381 - 384
Abstract | PDF

The mechanism(s) of glucose sensing for inducing the autophagic peroxisome degradation (pexophagy) is not known. Recently, we have found that defects in the S. cerevisiae PKA-cAMP signaling pathway due to knockouts of GPR1 and/or GPA2 suppressed glucose-induced degradation of peroxisomal thiolase. Here we report that single defects of high (SNF3) and low (RGT2) affinity glucose sensors involved in glucose-dependent induction of hexose transporters have only a slight effect on glucose-induced degradation of peroxisomal thiolase, although simultaneous defects of both sensors, SNF3 and RGT2 (which are known to strongly affect glucose transport) strongly inhibit this process in S. cerevisiae. Most likely, glucose is sensed for pexophagy using the Gpr1 sensor involved in the PKA-cAMP signaling pathway. In the methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris, however, knock out of S. cerevisiae orthologs of GPR1 and GPA2 did not affect glucose-induced degradation of oleate-induced thiolase or the methanol-induced key peroxisomal protein, alcohol oxidase. This implies that glucose sensing for pexophagy is different in baker’s and methylotrophic yeasts.

Addendum to: Nazarko VY, Thevelein JM, Sibirny AA. G-protein-coupled receptor Gpr1 and G-protein Gpa2 of cAMP-dependent signaling pathway are involved in glucose-induced pexophagy in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cell Biol Int 2007; doi:10.1016/j.cellbi.2007.11.001.

Open Access Article

NAD depletion by FK866 induces autophagy

Richard A. Billington, Armando A. Genazzani, Cristina Travelli and Fabrizio Condorelli
Pages 385 - 387
Abstract | PDF

NAD is a multifunctional molecule involved in both metabolic processes and signalling pathways. Such signalling pathways consume NAD which is replenished via one of several biosynthesis pathways. We show that influx of NAD across the plasma membrane may be able to contribute to the homeostasis of intracellular NAD levels. Indeed, extracellular application of NAD was able to replete NAD levels that had been lowered pharmacologically using the novel drug FK866 and was also able to rescue cells from FK866-induced cell death. A marked lag between the drop in NAD levels and cell death prompted us to investigate the mechanism of cell death. We were unable to find evidence of apoptosis as assessed by immunoblotting for the Caspase 3 activation fragment and immunostaining for cytochrome C and AIF translocation. We, therefore, investigated whether autophagy was initiated by FK866. Indeed, we were able to observe the formation of LC3-positive vesicles that had fused with lysosomes in FK866-treated but not control cells. Furthermore, this autophagic phenotype could be reverted by the addition of NAD to the extracellular medium.

Addendum to: Billington RA, Travelli C, Ercolano E, Galli U, Blasi Roman C, Grolla AA, Canonico PL, Condorelli F, Genazzani AA. Characterization of NAD uptake in mammalian cells. J Biol Chem 2008; In Press.

Open Access Article

A novel mammalian trans-membrane protein reveals an alternative initiation pathway for autophagy

Maria I. Vaccaro, Alejandro Ropolo, Daniel Grasso and Juan L. Iovanna
Pages 388 - 390
Abstract | PDF

Autophagy is an early cellular event during acute pancreatitis, a disease defined as pancreas self-digestion. The Vacuole Membrane Protein 1 (VMP1) is a trans-membrane protein highly activated in acinar cells early during pancreatitis-induced autophagy and it remains in the autophagosomal membrane. We have shown that VMP1 expression is able to trigger autophagy in mammalian cells, even under nutrient-replete conditions. VMP1 is induced by autophagy stimuli and its expression is required for autophagosome development. VMP1 interacts with Beclin 1 through its hydrophilic C-terminal region, which we named Atg domain, as it is essential for autophagy. Remarkably, VMP1 pancreas-specific transgenic expression in mice promotes autophagosome formation. Most of the autophagy-related proteins were described in yeast or have a yeast homologue. VMP1 does not have any known homologue in yeast but its expression is required to start the autophagic process in mammalian cells. These findings support the hypothesis that mammalian cells may regulate autophagy in a different way. We propose that VMP1 is a novel autophagy related trans-membrane protein, which may lead the way in the search for alternative mechanisms of autophagosome formation.

Addendum to: Ropolo A, Grasso D, Pardo R, Sacchetti ML, Archange C, Re AL, Seux M, Nowak J, Gonzalez CD, Iovanna JL, Vaccaro MI. The pancreatitis-induced vacuole membrane protein 1 triggers autophagy in mammalian cells. J Biol Chem 2007; 282:37124-33.




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Open Access Article

Studying autophagy’s relationship to cell death

Andrew Thorburn
Pages 391 - 394
Abstract | PDF

Depending on the circumstances, autophagy can prevent, cause or regulate the kinetics of cell death. Consequently, it is particularly important that experimental strategies to study these responses are designed carefully. Here, I discuss some of the issues to be considered when designing such experiments.