Dataset Information

Using enhanced-mitophagy to measure autophagic flux.

ABSTRACT: Macroautophagy (hereafter termed autophagy) is a cellular membrane-trafficking process that functions to deliver cytoplasmic constituents to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy operates at basal levels to turn over damaged and misfolded proteins and it is the only process for the turnover of organelles. The process is therefore critically important for the preservation of cellular integrity and viability. Autophagy is also highly adaptable and the rate and cargoes of autophagy can be altered to bring about desired cellular responses to intracellular and environmental cues, disease states and a spectrum of pharmaceutical drugs. As a result, there is much interest in understanding the dynamics of autophagy in a variety of situations. To date, the majority of assays to monitor autophagy either measure changes in a parameter of the process at a set point in time or use markers/tracers to monitor flow of membrane-bound proteins from one point in the process to another. As such, these assays do not measure changes in endogenous cargo degradation which is the ultimate end-point of the autophagy process. We describe here an assay to measure autophagic cargo degradation by engineering cells to degrade mitochondria en masse. We show that this 'enhanced-mitophagy' assay can be used to measure differences in the rate of autophagy between different cells or in response to agents which are known to promote or inhibit autophagic flux. We consider therefore that this assay will prove to be a valuable resource for investigations in which autophagy is considered important and is believed to be modulated.

SUBMITTER: Baudot AD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4358839 | biostudies-other | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Using enhanced-mitophagy to measure autophagic flux.

Baudot Alice D AD Haller Martina M Mrschtik Michaela M Tait Stephen W G SW Ryan Kevin M KM

Methods (San Diego, Calif.) 20141209

Macroautophagy (hereafter termed autophagy) is a cellular membrane-trafficking process that functions to deliver cytoplasmic constituents to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy operates at basal levels to turn over damaged and misfolded proteins and it is the only process for the turnover of organelles. The process is therefore critically important for the preservation of cellular integrity and viability. Autophagy is also highly adaptable and the rate and cargoes of autophagy can be altered to ...[more]

PMID: 25498004

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Project description:Background: Systemic glucose homeostasis is affected by adipose cell function. Still, the cellular events preceding the onset of insulin resistance in adipocytes are not yet resolved. To capture the immediate cellular changes during diet-induced expansion of cell volume and number, we characterized the initial changes in mature adipocytes during a short high fat diet (HFD) intervention. Methods: C57BL6/J male mice were fed chow diet, and switched to HFD for 2, 4, 6 or 14 days. Systemic glucose clearance was assessed by glucose tolerance test. Adipose tissue was dissected for RNA seq analysis and cell size distribution analyzed using coulter counter technique. Insulin response in isolated adipocytes was measured by glucose uptake and Western blotting of insulin signaling intermediates. Confocal microscopy was used to assess autophagic flux in cells pre-incubated with rapamycin and chloroquine. Results: Switching to HFD was accompanied by an immediate adipose cell size expansion followed by recruitment of new adipocytes. Despite an increase in both basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in adipocytes, we observed a progressive decrease in insulin-stimulated activation of Protein Kinase B (PKB) Ser473, PKB Thr308 and Akt substrate of 160 (AS160) Tyr642, and onset of systemic insulin-resistance already after two days. Moreover, RNA-seq analysis of adipose tissue revealed marked changes in gene expression at day four, of which the most significant included genes directly involved in autophagy (Trp53Inp2 and Beclin1). Enhanced autophagy was observed in isolated adipocytes from HFD-fed mice, detected as an increased density of LC3-positive puncta by confocal microscopy, and increase of LC3II. Conclusions: HFD rapidly caused impaired insulin signal transduction in adipocytes, while both basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake increased, which support the concept of spare signaling. Interestingly, our data suggests autophagy as one of the early cellular events that could contribute to insulin resistance.

Dataset Information

Using enhanced-mitophagy to measure autophagic flux.

Publications

Using enhanced-mitophagy to measure autophagic flux.

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