What is LC3 autophagy?

During autophagy, autophagosomes engulf cytoplasmic components, including cytosolic proteins and organelles. Concomitantly, a cytosolic form of LC3 (LC3-I) is conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine to form LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II), which is recruited to autophagosomal membranes.

How do you upregulate autophagy?

TEN Ways To Stimulate Autophagy

1. Caloric restriction.
2. Intracellular enzymatic reactions require not only substrates but also co-factors for proper functioning.
3. Anti-oxidants.
4. Avoid oils, saturated fat, dairy, sugar, and processed foods.
5. Exercise and oxygenate.
6. Restorative sleep.
7. Protect your genes.

What is autophagy regulation?

Thus, autophagy is regulated by two different mechanisms: nontranscriptional inhibition by mTOR and transcription-dependent upregulation through FoxO3. Nevertheless, transcriptional mechanisms that physiologically regulate expression of autophagy genes in tissues other than myotubes have not been characterized.

How is LC3 immunoblotting used to monitor autophagy?

Microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) is now widely used to monitor autophagy. One approach is to detect LC3 conversion (LC3-I to LC3-II) by immunoblot analysis because the amount of LC3-II is clearly correlated with the number of autophagosomes.

How is LC3 conjugated to the autophagosomal membrane?

Concomitantly, a cytosolic form of LC3 (LC3-I) is conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine to form LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II), which is recruited to autophagosomal membranes. Autophagosomes fuse with lysosomes to form autolysosomes, and intra-autophagosomal components are degraded by lysosomal hydrolases.

Which is a critical regulator of autophagy induction?

The kinase mTOR is a critical regulator of autophagy induction, with activated mTOR (Akt and MAPK signaling) suppressing autophagy, and negative regulation of mTOR (AMPK and p53 signaling) promoting it.

How are ULK1 and ULK2 related to autophagy?

ULK1 and ULK2 form a large complex with the mammalian homolog of an autophagy-related (Atg) gene product (mAtg13) and the scaffold protein FIP200 (an ortholog of yeast Atg17).