A Simple Cargo Sequestration Assay for Quantitative Measurement of Nonselective Autophagy in Cultured Cells.

Autophagy (self-eating) is a common term for various processes by which cellular components are transferred to lysosomes for degradation. In macroautophagy, intracellular membrane structures termed "phagophores" expand to encapsulate autophagic cargo into sealed, double-membrane vacuoles termed "autophagosomes," which subsequently may fuse with endosomes to form intermediary vacuoles called "amphisomes," and finally with lysosomes to have their contents degraded and recycled. Autophagy is frequently analyzed by monitoring phagophore- and autophagosome-associated markers such as LC3. Although useful, it is becoming increasingly clear that very few, if any, of these marker proteins are entirely specific to the autophagic process. Moreover, phagophore/autophagosome markers cannot be used to measure autophagic activity since they are part of the autophagic machinery, or "cart," rather than autophagic cargo. Thus, there is a great need for functional assays in autophagy research. Here, we describe a method that quantitatively measures the nonselective autophagic sequestration of endogenous cytosolic cargo. The method is based on a crude separation of sedimentable cellular material from cytosol and a subsequent measurement of the fraction of a cytosolic enzyme activity transferred to the sedimentable fraction by autophagic sequestration. The original assay was first developed in 1990, but during the last few years we have systematically downscaled and simplified the method into the time- and cost-efficient procedure presented here, which can be performed with standard laboratory equipment and is suitable for any cell type.

Effects of inhibitors of the vacuolar proton pump on hepatic heterophagy and autophagy.

Bafilomycin A(1) (BAF) and concanamycin A (ConcA) are selective inhibitors of the H(+)-ATPases of the vacuolar system. We have examined the effects of these inhibitors on different steps in endocytic pathways in rat hepatocytes, using [(125)I]tyramine-cellobiose-labeled asialoorosomucoid ([(125)I]TC-AOM) and [(125)I]tyramine-cellobiose-labeled bovine serum albumin ([(125)I]TC-BSA) as probes for respectively receptor-mediated endocytosis and pinocytosis (here defined as fluid phase endocytosis). The effects of BAF and ConcA were in principle identical, although ConcA was more effective than BAF. The main findings were as follows. (1) BAF/ConcA reduced the rate of uptake of both [(125)I]TC-AOM and [(125)I]TC-BSA. The reduced uptake of [(125)I]TC-AOM was partly due to a redistribution of the asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGPR) such that the number of surface receptors was reduced approximately 40% without a change in the total number of receptors. (2) BAF/ConcA at the same time increased retroendocytosis (recycling) of both probes. The increased recycling of the ligand ([(125)I]TC-AOM) is partly a consequence of the enhanced pH in endosomes, which prevents dissociation of ligand. (3) It was furthermore found that the ligand remained bound to the receptor in presence of BAF/ConcA and that the total amount of ligand molecules internalized in BAF/ConcA-treated cells was only slightly in excess of the total number of receptors. These data indicate that reduced pH in endosomes is the prime cause of receptor inactivation and release of ligand in early endosomes. (4) Subcellular fractionation experiments showed that [(125)I]TC-AOM remained in early endosomes, well separated from lysosomes in sucrose gradients. The fluid phase marker, [(125)I]TC-BSA, on the other hand, seemed to reach a later endosome in the BAF/ConcA-treated cells. This organelle coincided with lysosomes in the gradient, but hypotonic medium was found to selectively release a lysosomal enzyme (beta-acetylglucosaminidase), indicating that even [(125)I]TC-BSA remained in a prelysosomal compartment in the BAF/ConcA-treated cells. (5) Electron microscopy using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a fluid phase marker verified that BAF/ConcA inhibited transfer of material from late endosomes ('multivesicular bodies'). (6) BAF/ConcA led to accumulation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in autophagic vacuoles, but although the drugs partly inhibited fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes a number of autolysosomes was formed in the presence of BAF/ConcA. This observation explains the reduced buoyant density of lysosomes (revealed in sucrose density gradients). In conclusion, BAF/ConcA inhibit transfer of endocytosed material from late endosomes to lysosomes, but do not at the same time prevent fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes.

Effects of the diarrhetic shellfish toxin, okadaic acid, on cytoskeletal elements, viability and functionality of rat liver and intestinal cells.

The diarrhetic shellfish toxin, okadaic acid, administered to rats by intragastric intubation, caused intestinal damage, diarrhea and death, but had no detectable effect on the liver. In contrast, okadaic acid administered intravenously had little effect on intestinal function, but caused a rapid dissolution of hepatic bile canalicular actin sheaths, congestion of blood in the liver, hypotension and death at high doses. In isolated rat hepatocytes, okadaic acid induced disruption of the canalicular sheaths as well as of the keratin intermediate filament network. Both of these cytoskeletal changes could be prevented by addition of a cytoprotective flavonoid, naringin, to the isolated hepatocytes, whereas intravenously or intragastrically administered naringin failed to protect against the effects of okadaic acid in vivo. Freshly isolated colonocytes already had fragmented keratin and tubulin cytoskeletons, died rapidly and were not further afflicted by okadaic acid. Naringin had no protective effect on isolated colonocytes or on intestinal function in vivo, but the nonspecific protein kinase inhibitor, K-252a, and the protein-tyrosine-phosphatase inhibitor, vanadate, significantly reduced the extent of colonocytic keratin fragmentation, and an inhibitor of apoptotic caspases, zVAD.fmk, was strongly protective. Further studies of hepatic and intestinal cytoprotectants should focus on conditions that limit their effectiveness in vivo.

Autophagosome-associated variant isoforms of cytosolic enzymes.

In a search for autophagosome-associated proteins, two-dimensional gel separations of proteins from purified autophagosomes, postnuclear supernatant, cytosol, lysosomes, mitochondria, endosomes and a cytomembrane fraction (mostly endoplasmic reticulum) were compared. Three proteins, with monomeric molecular masses of 43, 35 and 31 kDa, were enriched in total or sedimentable fractions of autophagosomes relative to the corresponding fractions of postnuclear supernatant, suggesting an association with the autophagosomal delimiting membrane. These proteins were also present on lysosomal membranes, but they were absent from mitochondria, and detected only in small amounts in the cytomembrane fraction and in endosomes, indicating that they were not associated with organelles sequestered by autophagy. However, all three proteins were present in the cytosol, suggesting that they were cytosolic proteins binding peripherally to the delimiting membrane of autophagosomes, probably to its innermost surface as indicated by their resistance to treatment of intact autophagosomes with proteinase or protein-stripping agents. Amino acid sequencing identified these proteins as an isoform of argininosuccinate synthase, an N-truncated variant of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and a sequence variant of short-chain 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase.

Prevention of toxin-induced cytoskeletal disruption and apoptotic liver cell death by the grapefruit flavonoid, naringin.

The protein phosphatase-inhibitory algal toxins, okadaic acid and microcystin-LR, induced overphosphorylation of keratin and disruption of the keratin cytoskeleton in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes. In hepatocyte cultures, the toxins elicited DNA fragmentation and apoptotic cell death within 24 h. All these toxin effects could be prevented by the grapefruit flavonoid, naringin. The cytoprotective effect of naringin was apparently limited to normal hepatocytes, since the toxin-induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells, rat or human, was not prevented by the flavonoid.

Ultrastructural characterization of the delimiting membranes of isolated autophagosomes and amphisomes by freeze-fracture electron microscopy.

The delimiting membranes of isolated autophagosomes from rat liver had extremely few transmembrane proteins, as indicated by the paucity of intramembrane particles in freeze-fracture images (about 20 particles/microm2, whereas isolated lysosomes had about 2000 particles/microm2). The autophagosomes also appeared to lack peripheral surface membrane proteins, since attempts to surface-biotinylate intact autophagosomes only yielded biotinylation of proteins from contaminating damaged mitochondria. All the membrane layers of multilamellar autophagosomes were equally particle-poor; the same was true of the autophagosome-forming, sequestering membrane complexes (phagophores). Isolated amphisomes (vacuoles formed by fusion between autophagosomes and endosomes) had more intramembrane particles than the autophagosomes (about 90 particles/microm2), and freeze-fracture images of these organelles frequently showed particle-rich endosomes fusing with particle-poor or particle-free autophagosomes. The appearence of multiple particle clusters suggested that a single autophagic vacuole could undergo multiple fusions with endosomes. Only the outermost membrane of bi- or multilamellar autophagic vacuoles appeared to engage in such fusions.

Inhibition of hepatocytic autophagy by adenosine, adenosine analogs and AMP.

Autophagy, measured in isolated rat hepatocytes as the sequestration of electroinjected [3H]raffinose, was moderately (17%) inhibited by adenosine (0.4 mM) alone, but more strongly (85%) in the presence of the adenosine deaminase inhibitor, 2'-deoxycoformycin (50 microM), suggesting that metabolic deamination of adenosine limited its inhibitory effectiveness. The adenosine analogs, 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside and N6,N6-dimethyladenosine, inhibited autophagy by 89% and 99%, respectively, at 0.5 mM, probably reflecting the adenosine deaminase-resistance of their 6-substitutions. 5-Iodotubercidin (10 microM), an adenosine kinase inhibitor, blocked the conversion of adenosine to AMP and largely abolished the inhibitory effects of both adenosine and its analogs, indicating that AMP/nucleotide formation was required for inhibition of autophagy. Inhibition by adenosine of autophagic protein degradation, measured as the release of [14C]valine from prelabelled protein, was similarly potentiated by deoxycoformycin and prevented by iodotubercidin. Inhibition of autophagy by added AMP, ADP or ATP (0.3-1 mM) was, likewise, potentiated by deoxycoformycin and prevented by iodotubercidin, suggesting dephosphorylation to adenosine and intracellular re-phosphorylation to AMP. Suppression of autophagy by AMP may be regarded as a feedback inhibition of autophagic RNA degradation, or as an aspect of the general down-regulation of energy-requiring processes that occurs under conditions of ATP depletion, when AMP levels are high.

Purification and characterization of autophagosomes from rat hepatocytes.

To investigate the properties and intracellular origin of autophagosomes, a procedure for the purification and isolation of these organelles from rat liver has been developed. Isolated hepatocytes were incubated with vinblastine to induce autophagosome accumulation; the cells were then homogenized and treated with the cathepsin C substrate glycyl-l-phenylalanine 2-naphthylamide to cause osmotic disruption of the lysosomes. Nuclei were removed by differential centrifugation, and the postnuclear supernatant was fractionated on a discontinuous Nycodenz density gradient. The autophagosomes, recognized by their content of autophagocytosed lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), could be recovered in an intermediate-density fraction, free from cytosol and mitochondria. Finally, the autophagosomes were separated from the endoplasmic reticulum and other membranous elements by centrifugation in a Percoll colloidal density gradient, followed by flotation in iodixanol to remove the Percoll particles. The final autophagosome preparation represented a 24-fold purification of autophagocytosed LDH relative to intact cells, with a 12% recovery. The purified autophagosomes contained sequestered cytoplasm with a normal ultrastructure, including mitochondria, peroxisomes and endoplasmic reticulum in the same proportions as in intact cells. However, immunoblotting indicated a relative absence of cytoskeletal elements (tubulin, actin and cytokeratin), which may evade autophagic sequestration. The autophagosomes showed no enrichment in protein markers typical of lysosomes (acid phosphatase, cathepsin B, lysosomal glycoprotein of 120 kDa), endosomes (early-endosome-associated protein 1, cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor, asialoglycoprotein receptor) or endoplasmic reticulum (esterase, glucose-regulated protein of 78 kDa, protein disulphide isomerase), suggesting that the sequestering membranes are not derived directly from any of these organelles, but rather represent unique organelles (phagophores).

Inhibition of hepatocytic autophagy by adenosine, aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside, and N6-mercaptopurine riboside. Evidence for involvement of amp-activated protein kinase.

To examine the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK; EC 2.7.1. 109) in the regulation of autophagy, rat hepatocytes were incubated with the AMPK proactivators, adenosine, 5-amino-4-imidazole carboxamide riboside (AICAR), or N6-mercaptopurine riboside. Autophagic activity was inhibited by all three nucleosides, AICAR and N6-mercaptopurine riboside being more potent (IC50 = 0.3 mM) than adenosine (IC50 = 1 mM). 2'-Deoxycoformycin, an adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4) inhibitor, increased the potency of adenosine 5-fold, suggesting that the effectiveness of adenosine as an autophagy inhibitor was curtailed by its intracellular deamination. 5-Iodotubercidin, an adenosine kinase (EC 2.7.1.20) inhibitor, abolished the effects of all three nucleosides, indicating that they needed to be phosphorylated to inhibit autophagy. A 5-iodotubercidin-suppressible phosphorylation of AICAR to 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside monophosphate was confirmed by chromatographic analysis. AICAR, up to 0.4 mM, had no significant effect on intracellular ATP concentrations. Because activated AMPK phosphorylates and inactivates 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.88), the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis, the strong inhibition of hepatocytic cholesterol synthesis by all three nucleosides confirmed their ability to activate AMPK under the conditions used. Lovastatin and simvastatin, inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, strongly suppressed cholesterol synthesis while having no effect on autophagic activity, suggesting that AMPK inhibits autophagy independently of its effects on HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol metabolism.

Regional selective neuronal degeneration after protein phosphatase inhibition in hippocampal slice cultures: evidence for a MAP kinase-dependent mechanism.

The regional selectivity and mechanisms underlying the toxicity of the serine/threonine protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid (OA) were investigated in hippocampal slice cultures. Image analysis of propidium iodide-labeled cultures revealed that okadaic acid caused a dose- and time-dependent injury to hippocampal neurons. Pyramidal cells in the CA3 region and granule cells in the dentate gyrus were much more sensitive to okadaic acid than the pyramidal cells in the CA1 region. Electron microscopy revealed ultrastructural changes in the pyramidal cells that were not consistent with an apoptotic process. Treatment with okadaic acid led to a rapid and sustained tyrosine phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK1 and ERK2 (p44/42(mapk)). The phosphorylation was markedly reduced after treatment of the cultures with the microbial alkaloid K-252a (a nonselective protein kinase inhibitor) or the MAP kinase kinase (MEK1/2) inhibitor PD98059. K-252a and PD98059 also ameliorated the okadaic acid-induced cell death. Inhibitors of protein kinase C, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, or tyrosine kinase were ineffective. These results indicate that sustained activation of the MAP kinase pathway, as seen after e.g., ischemia, may selectively harm specific subsets of neurons. The susceptibility to MAP kinase activation of the CA3 pyramidal cells and dentate granule cells may provide insight into the observed relationship between cerebral ischemia and dementia in Alzheimer's disease.

Isolation and characterization of rat liver amphisomes. Evidence for fusion of autophagosomes with both early and late endosomes.

Amphisomes, the autophagic vacuoles (AVs) formed upon fusion between autophagosomes and endosomes, have so far only been characterized in indirect, functional terms. To enable a physical distinction between autophagosomes and amphisomes, the latter were selectively density-shifted in sucrose gradients following fusion with AOM-gold-loaded endosomes (endosomes made dense by asialoorosomucoid-conjugated gold particles, endocytosed by isolated rat hepatocytes prior to subcellular fractionation). Whereas amphisomes, by this criterion, accounted for only a minor fraction of the AVs in control hepatocytes, treatment of the cells with leupeptin (an inhibitor of lysosomal protein degradation) caused an accumulation of amphisomes to about one-half of the AV population. A quantitative electron microscopic study confirmed that leupeptin induced a severalfold increase in the number of hepatocytic amphisomes (recognized by their gold particle contents; otherwise, their ultrastructure was quite similar to autophagosomes). Leupeptin caused, furthermore, a selective retention of endocytosed AOM-gold in the amphisomes at the expense of the lysosomes, consistent with an inhibition of amphisome-lysosome fusion. The electron micrographs suggested that autophagosomes could undergo multiple independent fusions, with multivesicular (late) endosomes to form amphisomes and with small lysosomes to form large autolysosomes. A biochemical comparison between autophagosomes and amphisomes, purified by a novel procedure, showed that the amphisomes were enriched in early endosome markers (the asialoglycoprotein receptor and the early endosome-associated protein 1) as well as in a late endosome marker (the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor). Amphisomes would thus seem to be capable of receiving inputs both from early and late endosomes.

DNA ploidy and autophagic protein degradation as determinants of hepatocellular growth and survival.

Hepatocytes have the ability to go through specialized cell cycles, which, during normal developmental liver growth, result in the formation of binuclear and polyploid cells. In the adult rat liver, the majority of the hepatocytes (about 70%) are tetraploid, 15-20% are octoploid, and only 10-15% are diploid (about 50% in humans). One-third of the hepatocytes in either rats or humans are binuclear (with two diploid or two tetraploid nuclei). Among cultured rat hepatocytes stimulated with growth factors (EGF and insulin), one-half of the mitoses are of the binucleating type (suggesting a "quantal" mechanism), causing one-third of the postmitotic cells to become binuclear. In contrast, regenerative liver growth, induced by partial hepatectomy, is predominantly nonbinucleating. During rat liver carcinogenesis, the early populations of phenotypically altered cells (foci) are predominantly diploid, as are the later neoplastic nodules and carcinomas, which can be shown to have a regeneration-like, largely nonbinucleating growth pattern. A negative correlation between growth capacity and ploidy can be demonstrated in cultured hepatocytes, regenerating livers, neoplastic nodules, and hepatocellular carcinomas, suggesting that suppression of binucleation and polyploidization may carry a growth advantage, in addition to helping to maintain a large population of diploid, potential stem cells. Since a diploid genome is less protected against mutagenic change than a polyploid genome, diploid tumor cells may, furthermore, be more prone than polyploid cells to undergo mutation-based progression toward increasing malignancy. The ability of liver tumor promoters like 2-acetylaminofluorene, cyproterone acetate, alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane and methylclofenapate to induce nonbinucleating hepatocyte growth may, therefore, cooperate with the selective growth stimulation of cancer cells and cancer cell precursors to promote liver carcinogenesis. Autophagy, a mechanism for the bulk degradation of cytoplasm, contributes to intracellular protein turnover and serves to restrict cellular growth. Rat liver carcinogenesis is accompanied by a progressive reduction of autophagic capacity, preneoplastic livers having 50% and hepatocellular carcinoma cells only 20% as much autophagy as normal hepatocytes. The ascites hepatoma cell line AH-130 has virtually no autophagy during logarithmic growth, but some autophagy is turned on when the cells become growth-arrested at high cell density. Ascitic fluid from AH-130 cells is able to completely inhibit autophagy in normal hepatocytes, suggesting that the cancer cells may improve their growth ability through an autocrine, autophagy-suppressive mechanism. Hepatocytes from preneoplastic livers similarly maintain a low autophagic activity under restrictive culture conditions, thereby surviving much better than normal hepatocytes, which switch on their autophagy. In the presence of an autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine), normal and preneoplastic hepatocytes survive equally well, testifying to the importance of autophagy as a determinant of cell survival and growth.

Differences between fluid-phase endocytosis (pinocytosis) and receptor-mediated endocytosis in isolated rat hepatocytes.

To characterize possible differences between the fluid-phase endocytosis (pinocytosis) of bovine serum albumin and the receptor-mediated endocytosis of asialo-orosomucoid (AOM) in isolated rat hepatocytes, both probes were conjugated to radioiodinated tyramine-cellobiose, [125I]TC. The use of these conjugates made it possible to measure the uptake and intracellular distribution of the intact proteins as well as of their acid-soluble, membrane-impermeant degradation products. [125I]TC-albumin was taken up at a very low rate (0.5%/h) compared to [125I]TC-AOM (45%/h), suggesting that neither membrane adsorption nor membrane permeation compromised its suitability as a fluid-phase marker. Sucrose gradient analysis indicated that both probes sequentially entered light endosomes (1.11 g/ml), dense endosomes (1.14 g/ml) and lysosomes (1.18 g/ml), but [125I]TC-albumin traversed the endocytic compartments more rapidly than [125I]TC-AOM, and was partially degraded intralysosomally already after 15 min. The microtubule inhibitor, vinblastine, had a stronger inhibitory effect on the uptake and degradation of [125I]TC-AOM (80% and 95%, respectively) than on the uptake and degradation of [125I]TC-albumin (50% and 70%, respectively). In the presence of vinblastine, [125I]TC-AOM was retained both in light and dense endosomes, whereas [125I]TC-albumin was retained in dense endosomes only, suggesting that the early steps of fluid-phase endocytosis were less critically dependent on microtubular function than the early steps of receptor-mediated endocytosis. A perturbant of vacuolar pH, propylamine, inhibited the degradation of both probes strongly (75-100%), as would be expected from its lysosomotropic effect. Propylamine also inhibited endocytic uptake, with a stronger effect on [125I]TC-AOM uptake (95% inhibition) than on [125I]TC-albumin uptake (60% inhibition), probably reflecting a reduction in endosomal acidity, reduced receptor-ligand dissociation and diminished recycling of free asialoglycoprotein receptors to the cell surface in addition to a general trapping of membrane in swollen vacuoles. A protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, strongly (80-100%) inhibited the uptake and degradation of both [125I]TC-albumin and [125I]TC-AOM. An inhibitor of lysosomal proteinases, leupeptin, strongly suppressed the degradation of both probes and moderately reduced the uptake of [125I]TC-AOM, whereas the uptake of [125I]TC-albumin was unaffected. In contrast, an inhibitor of autophagic sequestration, 3-methyladenine, reduced both the uptake and degradation of [125I]TC-albumin markedly (55% and 75%, respectively), with considerably less effect on [125I]TC-AOM (25% and 35%, respectively). As autophagy-inhibitory amino acid mixture did not share these effects, suggesting that 3-methyladenine may suppress endocytic fluid-phase uptake by an autophagy-independent mechanism. Fluid-phase and receptor-mediated endocytosis in hepatocytes thus appear to differ with respect to uptake mechanisms as well as in the kinetics by which endocytosed material traverses the endocytic-lysosomal pathway.

A novel method for the study of autophagy: destruction of hepatocytic lysosomes, but not autophagosomes, by the photosensitizing porphyrin tetra(4-sulphonatophenyl)porphine.

A photoactivatable porphyrin, tetra(4-sulphonatophenyl)porphine (TPPS4), was shown to accumulate in rat hepatocytes as a linear function of dose after intravenous injection, and to localize predominantly in hepatocytic lysosomes. A major fraction of the lysosomal enzymes acid phosphatase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase was inactivated by TPPS4 after 20 h of contact with the drug in vivo in the absence of photoactivation. On exposure of isolated hepatocytes to light, photoactivated TPPS4 caused additional inactivation of the lysosomal enzymes as well as inactivation of intralysosomal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a cytosolic enzyme that accumulated in lysosomes as a result of autophagy during a 2 h incubation of hepatocytes at 37 degrees C in the dark (in the presence of the proteinase inhibitor leupeptin to prevent degradation of intralysosomal LDH). Photoactivation of TPPS4 also induced lysosomal rupture, with a loss of lysosomal enzymes, autophagocytosed LDH, endocytosed 125I-tyramine-cellobiose-asialo-orosomucoid and TPPS4 from the lysosomes. However, LDH-containing autophagosomes, accumulated in the presence of vinblastine (a microtubule inhibitor used to prevent the fusion of lysosomes with autophagosomes or endosomes), were not affected by TPPS4. TPPS4 may thus be useful as a selective lysosomal (or endosomal) perturbant in the study of autophagic-endocytic-lysosomal interactions.

Role of cAMP in the regulation of hepatocytic autophagy.

To assess the role of cAMP in the regulation of autophagy, we examined the effects of cAMP analogues and cAMP-elevating agents on freshly isolated rat hepatocytes, using electroinjected [3H]raffinose as an autophagy probe. Glucagon was found to stimulate, inhibit or have no effect on autophagy, depending on the inclusion of metabolites like pyruvate (which caused ATP depletion and autophagy suppression) and amino acids (a complete mixture that antagonized pyruvate) in the incubation medium. Inhibition was also observed with theophylline, a cAMP-elevating inhibitor of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, and with the adenylyl cyclase activator deacetylforskolin. At low concentrations of deacetylforskolin, the inhibition could be abolished by amino acids. N6,2'-O-Dibutyryladenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (Bt2-cAMP) strongly inhibited both autophagic sequestration of [3H]raffinose and overall autophagic protein degradation; again, amino acids abolished the autophagy-inhibitory effect of low Bt2-cAMP concentrations. Several other cAMP analogues (8-thiomethyl-cAMP, N6-benzoyl-cAMP, (S)-5,6-dichloro-1-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole 3',5'-[thio]monophosphate, (S)-8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-[thio]monophosphate) inhibited autophagy as well. The effect of Bt2-cAMP was rapid, dose-dependent, reversible and did not require concomitant protein synthesis. Neither Bt2-cAMP nor deacetylforskolin reduced intracellular ATP levels or cell viability, ruling out inhibition of autophagy by non-specific cytotoxicity. The autophagy-inhibitory effect of Bt2-cAMP could be substantially antagonized (40-50%) by KT-5720, a specific inhibitor of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, and by the nonspecific protein kinase inhibitor K-252a. Somewhat surprisingly, KN-62 and KT-5926, allegedly specific inhibitors of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and myosin light chain kinase, respectively, were also Bt2-cAMP-antagonistic. These results suggest that cAMP regulates the early, sequestrational step of hepatocytic autophagy by a highly conditional, dual mechanism, inhibition being predominant under most conditions in freshly isolated hepatocytes, whereas stimulation reportedly predominates in vivo. The effect of cAMP is probably mediated by protein kinase A, but other protein kinases would appear to participate in the regulation of autophagic sequestration as well.

Structural aspects of autophagy.

As a first step towards isolation of autophagic sequestering membranes (phagophores), we have purified autophagosomes from rat hepatocytes. Lysosomes were selectively destroyed by osmotic rupture, achieved by incubation of hepatocyte homogenates with the cathepsin C substrate glycyl-phenylalanyl-naphthylamide (GPN). Mitochondria and peroxisomes were removed by Nycodenz gradient centrifugation, and cytosol, microsomes and other organelles by rate sedimentation through metrizamide cushions. The purified autophagosomes were bordered by dual or multiple concentric membranes, suggesting that autophagic sequestration might be performed either by single autophagic cisternae or by cisternal stacks. Okadaic acid, a protein phosphatase inhibitor, disrupted the hepatocytic cytokeratin network and inhibited autophagy completely in intact hepatocytes, perhaps suggesting that autophagy might be dependent on intact intermediate filaments. Vinblastine and cytochalasin D, which specifically disrupted microtubules and microfilaments, respectively, had relatively little (25-30%) inhibitory effect on autophagic sequestration. In a cryo-ultrastructural study, the various autophagic-lysosomal vacuoles were immunogold-labelled, using the cytosolic enzyme superoxide dismutase as an autophagic marker, Lgp120 as a lysosomal membrane marker, and bovine serum albumin as an endocytic marker. Vinblastine (50 microM) was found to inhibit both autophagic and endocytic flux into the lysosomes, with a consequent reduction in lysosomal size. Asparagine (20 mM) caused swelling of the lysosomes, probably as a result of the ammonia formation that could be observed at this high asparagine concentration. Autophagosomes and amphisomes (autophagic-endocytic, prelysosomal vacuoles) accumulated in asparagine-treated cells, reflecting an inhibition of autophagic flux that might be a consequence of lysosomal dysfunction.

Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical characterization of autophagic vacuoles in isolated hepatocytes: effects of vinblastine and asparagine on vacuole distributions.

The interactions between the autophagic and the endocytic degradation pathways were investigated by means of immunogold labeling of autophagic vacuoles (AVs) in ultrathin frozen sections from isolated rat hepatocytes. AVs were identified by their autophagocytosed contents of the degradation-resistant cytosolic enzyme CuZn-superoxide dismutase (SOD). Another cytosolic enzyme, carbonic anhydrase (CAIII), was rapidly degraded in the lysosomes, making the vacuolar CAIII/SOD ratio useful as a rough indicator of the progress of autophagic-lysosomal degradation. Lysosomes could be recognized by the presence of the lysosomal membrane glycoprotein lgp120, which was absent from hepatocytic endosomes. Endocytic inputs into the AVs were detected by the presence of gold-conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA-gold), taken up by fluid-phase endocytosis. All vacuoles recognized morphologically as AVs were SOD-positive, as were essentially all of the lysosomes (96%). The majority (72%) of the lysosomes also labeled positively for BSA within 2 h of endocytosis. The data are thus compatible with the notion that all lysosomes can engage in both autophagic and endocytic degradation. Lgp120 appeared to distinguish well between lysosomes and nonlysosomal AVs: the lgp120-negative AVs (nonlysosomes) had a CAIII/SOD ratio identical to that of the cytosol, indicating that no degradation had occurred. In the lgp120-positive AVs (lysosomes), the ratio was only 43% of the cytosolic value, consistent with substantial CAIII degradation. Among the nonlysosomal AVs (about one-third of all AVs), one-half were BSA-positive, suggesting that early AVs (autophagosomes) and suggesting that early AVs (autophagosomes) and intermediary AVs (amphisomes) that had fused with endosomes were equally abundant. These morphological data thus support previous biochemical evidence for a prelysosomal meeting of the autophagic and endocytic pathways. The microtubule inhibitor vinblastine inhibited the autophagic influx to the lysosomes, causing an accumulation of autophagosomes and a reduction in average lysosomal size. Vinblastine also inhibited the endocytic flux, thereby precluding the formation of amphisomes and of BSA-positive lysosomes. High concentrations (20 mM) of asparagine induced swelling of amphisomes and of BSA-positive lysosomes, probably reflecting an acidotropic effect of ammonia generated by asparagine deamination. Asparagine also caused an accumulation of autophagosomes, amphisomes, and BSA-negative lysosomes, presumably as a result of impaired fusion with the swollen BSA-positive lysosomes. The two agents thus appear to perturb the autophagic-endocytic-lysosomal vacuole dynamics by different mechanisms, making them useful in the further study of these complex organelle interactions.