Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Landes Bioscience
Résumé : International audience
In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
Autophagy

hal-00735751
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00735751
PUBMED : 22966490

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Bone Morphogenetic Protein 9 (BMP9) has been recently found to be the physiological ligand for the activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1), and to be a major circulating vascular quiescence factor. Moreover, a soluble chimeric ALK1 protein (ALK1-Fc) has recently been developed and showed powerful anti-tumor growth and anti-angiogenic effects. However, not much is known concerning BMP9. This prompted us to investigate the human endogenous sources of this cytokine and to further characterize its circulating form(s) and its function. Analysis of BMP9 expression reveals that BMP9 is produced by hepatocytes and intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells. Gel filtration analysis combined with ELISA and biological assays demonstrate that BMP9 circulates in plasma (1) as an unprocessed inactive form that can be further activated by furin a serine endoprotease, and (2) as a mature and fully active form (composed of the mature form associated with its prodomain). Analysis of BMP9 circulating levels during mouse development demonstrates that BMP9 peaks during the first 3 weeks after birth and then decreases to 2 ng/mL in adulthood. We also show that circulating BMP9 physiologically induces a constitutive Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation in endothelial cells. Taken together, our results argue for the role of BMP9 as a hepatocyte-derived factor, circulating in inactive (40%) and active (60%) forms, the latter constantly activating endothelial cells to maintain them in a resting state.
ISSN: 1420-682X

hal-00681969
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00681969
DOI : 10.1007/s00018-011-0751-1
PUBMED : 21710321

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Treatment failure and symptomatic relapse are major concerns in American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL). Such complications are seen frequently in L.guyanensis infections where patients respond variously to first-line anti-leishmanials and are more prone to develop chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis. The factors underlying this pathology, however, are unknown. Recently ,: we reported that a dsRNA virus (LRV1) nested within L.guyanensis parasites is able to exacerbate experimental murine leishmaniasis by inducing a hyper-inflammatory response. This report investigates the prevalence of LRV1 in human L.guyanensis infection and its effect on treatment efficacy as well as its correlation to symptomatic relapses after the first-line treatment. In our cohort of 75 patients diagnosed with primary-localised ATL, the prevalence of LRV1+ infection was elevated to 58%. All patients infected with LRV1-negative L.guyanensis were cured after one (22/31 i.e.71%) or two (31/31 i.e.100%) doses of pentamidine. Oppositely, 12 out of the 44 LRV1-positive patients presented with persistent infection and symptomatic relapse required extended therapy and the use of second-line drugs. Finally, LRV1 presence was associated with a significant increase in intra-lesional inflammatory markers. In conclusion, LRV1 status in L.guyanensis infection is significantly predictive (p=0.0009) of first-line treatment failure and symptomatic relapse, and could stand to guide therapeutic choices in ATL
Journal of Infectious Diseases

hal-01175528
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01175528
DOI : 10.1093/infdis/jiv355
PUBMED : 26123564