Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: UMLS:C0038187 (
starvation
)
24,951
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Autophagy is a major intracellular catabolic pathway that takes part in diverse biological events including response to amino acid
starvation
, protein and organelle turnover, development, aging, pathogen infection and cell death. However, experimental methods to monitor this process in mammalian cells are limited due to lack of autophagic markers. Recently, MAP1-
LC3
(
LC3
), a mammalian homologue of the ubiquitin-like (UBL) protein Atg8, was shown to selectively incorporate into autophagosome, thus serving as a unique bona fide marker of autophagosomes in mammals. However, current methods to quantify autophagic activity using
LC3
are time-consuming, labor-intensive and require much experience for accurate interpretation. Here we took advantage of the Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter (FACS) to quantify the turnover of GFP-
LC3
as an assay to measure autophagic activity in living mammalian cells. We showed that during induction of autophagy by rapamycin, tunicamycin or
starvation
to amino acids, fluorescence intensity of GFP-
LC3
is reduced in a time-dependent manner. This decrease occurred specifically in wild type
LC3
, but not in mutant
LC3
(G120A), and was inhibited by autophagic or lysosomal inhibitors, indicating that this signal is specific to selective autophagy-mediated delivery of
LC3
into lysosomes. By utilizing this assay, we tested the minimal nutrient requirement for the autophagic process and determined its induction by deprivation of specific single amino acids. We conclude that this approach can be successfully applied to different cell-lines as a reliable and simple method to quantify autophagic activity in living mammalian cells.
...
PMID:Utilizing flow cytometry to monitor autophagy in living mammalian cells. 1837 37
Atg12 and Atg8/
LC3
are two ubiquitin-like proteins involved in autophagosome formation. They show several similar characteristics just like brothers evolved from the same ancestor, however, their functional relationship has been obscure. We recently reported that a super protein complex, the Atg16L complex, which consists of multiple Atg12-Atg5 conjugates and the associating protein Atg16L, has an E3-like role in the
LC3
lipidation reaction(1). The activated intermediate,
LC3
-Atg3 (E2) is recruited to the site where the lipidation takes place by virtue of the Atg16L complex. Thus, these two closely resembling systems are connected also in terms of their functions. This finding will provide further important clues as to the origin of the autophagosome membrane, and how the process is regulated by
starvation
and PtdIns3P signals.
...
PMID:The Ubi brothers reunited. 1839 92
In mammalian cells, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has recently been shown to induce autophagy and the induction requires the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathways. However, little is known whether autophagy regulates UPR pathways and how specific UPR targets might control autophagy. Here, we demonstrated that although ER stress-induced autophagy was suppressed by class III phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase (PI3KC3) inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA), wortmannin and knockdown of Beclin1 using small interfering RNA (siRNA), only 3-MA suppressed UPR activation. We discovered that the UPR regulator and ER chaperone GRP78/BiP is required for stress-induced autophagy. In cells in which GRP78 expression was knocked down by siRNA, despite spontaneous activation of UPR pathways and
LC3
conversion, autophagosome formation induced by ER stress as well as by nutrition
starvation
was inhibited. GRP78 knockdown did not disrupt PI3KC3-Beclin1 association. However, electron microscopic analysis of the intracellular organelle structure reveals that the ER, a putative membrane source for generating autophagosomal double membrane, was massively expanded and disorganized in cells in which GRP78 was knocked down. ER expansion is known to be dependent on the UPR transcription factor XBP-1. Simultaneous knockdown of GRP78 and XBP-1 recovered normal levels of stress-induced autophagosome formation. Thus, these studies uncover 3-MA as an inhibitor of UPR activation and establish GRP78 as a novel obligatory component of autophagy in mammalian cells.
...
PMID:The unfolded protein response regulator GRP78/BiP is required for endoplasmic reticulum integrity and stress-induced autophagy in mammalian cells. 1855 Nov 33
Genotoxic stress can induce autophagy in a p53-dependent fashion and p53 can transactivate autophagy-inducing genes. We have observed recently that inactivation of p53 by deletion, depletion or inhibition can trigger autophagy. Thus, human and mouse cells subjected to knockout, knockdown or pharmacological inhibition of p53 manifest signs of autophagy such as depletion of p62/SQSTM1,
LC3
lipidation, redistribution of GFP-
LC3
in cytoplasmic puncta, and accumulation of autophagosomes and autolysosomes, both in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of p53 causes autophagy in enucleated cells, indicating that the cytoplasmic, non-nuclear pool of p53 can regulate autophagy. Accordingly, retransfection of p53(-/-) cells with wild-type p53 as well as a p53 mutant that is excluded from the nucleus (due to the deletion of the nuclear localization sequence) can inhibit autophagy, whereas retransfection with a nucleus-restricted p53 mutant (in which the nuclear localization sequence has been deleted) does not inhibit autophagy. Several distinct autophagy inducers (e.g.,
starvation
, rapamycin, lithium, tunicamycin and thapsigargin) stimulate the rapid degradation of p53. In these conditions, inhibition of the p53-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase HDM2 can avoid p53 depletion and simultaneously prevent the activation of autophagy. Moreover, a p53 mutant that lacks the HDM2 ubiquitinylation site and hence is more stable than wild-type p53 is particularly efficient in suppressing autophagy. In conclusion, p53 plays a dual role in the control of autophagy. On the one hand, nuclear p53 can induce autophagy through transcriptional effects. On the other hand, cytoplasmic p53 may act as a master repressor of autophagy.
...
PMID:A dual role of p53 in the control of autophagy. 1860 59
Resistance to cell death is a hallmark of cancer. Autophagy is a survival mechanism activated in response to nutrient deprivation; however, excessive autophagy will ultimately induce cell death in a nonapoptotic manner. The present study demonstrates that CCL2 protects prostate cancer PC3 cells from autophagic death, allowing prolonged survival in serum-free conditions. Upon serum
starvation
, CCL2 induced survivin up-regulation in PC3, DU 145, and C4-2B prostate cancer cells. Both cell survival and survivin expression were stunted in CCL2-stimulated PC3 cells when treated either with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 (2 microm) or the Akt-specific inhibitor-X (Akti-X; 2.5 microm). Furthermore, CCL2 significantly reduced light chain 3-II (LC3-II) in serum-starved PC3; in contrast, treatment with LY294002 or Akti-X reversed the effect of CCL2 on
LC3
-II levels, suggesting that CCL2 signaling limits autophagy in these cells. Upon serum deprivation, the analysis of
LC3
localization by immunofluorescence revealed a remarkable reduction in
LC3
punctate after CCL2 stimulation. CCL2 treatment also resulted in a higher sustained mTORC1 activity as measured by an increase in phospho-p70S6 kinase (Thr389). Rapamycin, an inducer of autophagy, both down-regulated survivin and decreased PC3 cell viability in serum-deprived conditions. Treatment with CCL2, however, allowed cells to partially resist rapamycin-induced death, which correlated with survivin protein levels. In two stable transfectants expressing survivin-specific short hairpin RNA, generated from PC3, survivin protein levels controlled both cell viability and
LC3
localization in response to CCL2 treatment. Altogether, these findings indicate that CCL2 protects prostate cancer PC3 cells from autophagic death via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/survivin pathway and reveal survivin as a critical molecule in this survival mechanism.
...
PMID:CCL2 protects prostate cancer PC3 cells from autophagic death via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT-dependent survivin up-regulation. 1861 60
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the primary site for folding and quality control for proteins destined to the cell surface and intracellular organelles. A variety of cellular insults alter ER homeostasis to disrupt protein folding, cause the accumulation of misfolded proteins, and activate an autophagic response. However, the molecular signaling pathways required for ER stress-induced autophagy are largely unknown. Recently, we discovered that a novel-type protein kinase C family member (PKCtheta) is required for ER stress-induced autophagy. We show that ER stress, in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, induces PKCtheta phosphorylation within the activation loop and localization with
LC3
-II in punctate cytoplasmic structures. Pharmacological inhibition, siRNA-mediated knockdown, or transdominant-negative mutant expression of PKCtheta block the ER stress-induced autophagic response. PKCtheta activation is not required for autophagy induced by amino acid
starvation
, and PKCtheta activation in response to ER stress does not require either the mTOR kinase or the unfolded protein response signaling pathways. Herein, we review and discuss the significance of these findings with respect to regulation of autophagy in response to ER stress.
...
PMID:Regulation of ER stress-induced macroautophagy by protein kinase C. 1867 Jan 92
Macroautophagy, a tightly orchestrated intracellular process for bulk degradation of cytoplasmic proteins or organelles, is believed to be essential for cell survival or death in response to stress conditions. Recent observations indicate that autophagy is an adaptive response in cells subjected to prolonged hypoxia. However, the signaling mechanisms that activate autophagy under acute hypoxic stress are not clearly understood. In this study, we show that acute hypoxic stress by treatment with 1% O(2) or desferroxamine, a hypoxia-mimetic agent, of cells renders a rapid induction of
LC3
-II level changes and green fluorescent protein-
LC3
puncta accumulation, hallmarks of autophagic processing, and that this process involves protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta), and occurs prior to the induction of BNIP3 (Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19-kDa interacting protein 3). Interestingly, hypoxic stress leads to a rapid and transient activation of JNK in Pa-4 or mouse embryo fibroblast cells. Acute hypoxic stress-induced changes in
LC3
-II level and JNK activation are attenuated in Pa-4 cells by dominant negative PKCdeltaKD or in mouse embryo fibroblast/PKCdelta-null cells. Intriguingly, the requirement of PKCdelta is not apparent for
starvation
-induced autophagy. The importance of PKCdelta in hypoxic stress-induced adaptive responses is further supported by our findings that inhibition of PKCdelta-facilitated autophagy by 3-methyladenine or Atg5 knock-out renders a greater prevalence of cell death following prolonged desferroxamine treatment, whereas PKCdelta- or JNK1-deficient cells exhibit resistance to extended hypoxic exposure. These results uncover dual roles of PKCdelta-dependent signaling in the cell fate determination upon hypoxic exposure.
...
PMID:Novel roles for protein kinase Cdelta-dependent signaling pathways in acute hypoxic stress-induced autophagy. 1883 80
Although autophagy maintains normal neural function by degrading misfolded proteins, little is known about how neurons activate this integral response. Furthermore, classical methods of autophagy induction used with nonneural cells, such as
starvation
, simply result in neuron death. To study neuronal autophagy, we cultured primary cortical neurons from transgenic mice that ubiquitously express green fluorescent protein-tagged
LC3
and monitored
LC3
-I to
LC3
-II conversion by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. Evaluation of different culture media led us to discover that culturing primary neurons in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium without B27 supplementation robustly activates autophagy. We validated this nutrient-limited media approach for inducing autophagy by showing that 3-methyl-adenine treatment and Atg5 RNA interference knockdown each inhibits
LC3
-I to
LC3
-II conversion. Evaluation of B27 supplement components yielded insulin as the factor whose absence induced autophagy in primary neurons, and this activation was mammalian target of rapamycin-dependent. When we tested if nutrient-limited media could protect neurons expressing polyglutamine-expanded proteins against cell death, we observed a strong protective effect, probably due to autophagy activation. Our results indicate that nutrient deprivation can be used to understand the regulatory basis of neuronal autophagy and implicate diminished insulin signaling in the activation of neuronal autophagy.
...
PMID:Nutrient deprivation induces neuronal autophagy and implicates reduced insulin signaling in neuroprotective autophagy activation. 1901 49
Autophagy, a tightly regulated process responsible for the bulk degradation of most long-lived proteins and some organelles, is associated with several forms of human diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disease and cardiomyopathies. However, the molecular machinery involved in autophagy in mammalian cells remains poorly understood. Here, we describe a high-throughput, cell-based functional screening platform, based on an automated fluorescence microscopy system, which enables acquiring and quantitatively analyzing images of GFP-
LC3
dots in cotransfected cells. From a library of 1,050 human cDNA clones, we identified three genes (TM9SF1, TMEM166 and TMEM74) whose overexpression induced high levels of autophagosome formation. In particular, overexpression of TM9SF1, which colocalized with
LC3
according to the confocal assay, led to a significant increase in the number of GFP-
LC3
dots. The results of transmission electron microscopy and immunoblotting to examine
LC3
-II levels further confirmed the ability of TM9SF1 to induce autophagy. Furthermore, knockdown of TM9SF1 expression by RNA interference could hamper
starvation
-induced autophagy. The functional screening platform therefore can be applied to high-throughput genomic screening candidate autophagy-related genes, which would provide new insights into underlying molecular mechanisms that may regulate autophagy in mammalian cells.
...
PMID:High-throughput functional screening for autophagy-related genes and identification of TM9SF1 as an autophagosome-inducing gene. 1902 33
Autophagy mediates the cellular response to nutrient deprivation, protein aggregation, and pathogen invasion in human. Dysfunction of autophagy has been implicated in multiple human diseases including cancer. The identification of novel autophagy factors in mammalian cells will provide critical mechanistic insights into how this complicated cellular pathway responds to a broad range of challenges. Here, we report the cloning of an autophagy-specific protein that we called Barkor (Beclin 1-associated autophagy-related key regulator) through direct interaction with Beclin 1 in the human phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class III complex. Barkor shares 18% sequence identity and 32% sequence similarity with yeast Atg14. Elimination of Barkor expression by RNA interference compromises
starvation
- and rapamycin-induced
LC3
lipidation and autophagosome formation. Overexpression of Barkor leads to autophagy activation and increased number and enlarged volume of autophagosomes. Tellingly, Barkor is also required for suppression of the autophagy-mediated intracellular survival of Salmonella typhimurium in mammalian cells. Mechanistically, Barkor competes with UV radiation resistance associated gene product (UVRAG) for interaction with Beclin 1, and the complex formation of Barkor and Beclin1 is required for their localizations to autophagosomes. Therefore, we define a regulatory signaling pathway mediated by Barkor that positively controls autophagy through Beclin 1 and represents a potential target for drug development in the treatment of human diseases implicated in autophagic dysfunction.
...
PMID:Identification of Barkor as a mammalian autophagy-specific factor for Beclin 1 and class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. 1905 71
<< Previous
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next >>