{"title":"Involvement of Autophagic Machinery in Neuropathogenesis: Targeting and Relevant Methods of Detection.","authors":"Nourhan Sayed, Alaa Emam Ali, Doaa Mokhtar Elsherbiny, Samar S Azab","doi":"10.1007/7651_2024_516","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The exquisite balance between cellular prosurvival and death pathways is extremely necessary for homeostasis. Different forms of programmed cell death have been widely studied and reported such as apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and autophagy. Autophagy is a catabolic process important for normal cellular functioning. The main aim of this machinery is to degrade the misfolded or damaged proteins, unuseful organelles, and pathogens, which invade the cells, thereby maintaining cellular homeostasis and assuring the regular renewal of cell components. This prosurvival function of autophagy highlights its importance in many human diseases, as the disturbance of this tightly organized process ultimately causes detrimental effects. Interestingly, neurons are particularly susceptible to damage upon the presence of any alteration in the basal level of the autophagic activity; this could be due to their high metabolic demand, post-mitotic nature, and the contribution of autophagy in the different fundamental functions of neurons. Herein, we have reported the role of autophagy in different CNS disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and epilepsy, besides the pharmacological agents targeting autophagy. Due to the significant contribution of autophagy in the pathogenesis of many diseases, it is crucial to develop effective methods to detect this dynamic process. In this chapter, we have summarized the most frequently employed techniques in studying and detecting autophagy including electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, Western blotting, intracellular protein degradation, and sequestration assay.</p>","PeriodicalId":18490,"journal":{"name":"Methods in molecular biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Methods in molecular biology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/7651_2024_516","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The exquisite balance between cellular prosurvival and death pathways is extremely necessary for homeostasis. Different forms of programmed cell death have been widely studied and reported such as apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and autophagy. Autophagy is a catabolic process important for normal cellular functioning. The main aim of this machinery is to degrade the misfolded or damaged proteins, unuseful organelles, and pathogens, which invade the cells, thereby maintaining cellular homeostasis and assuring the regular renewal of cell components. This prosurvival function of autophagy highlights its importance in many human diseases, as the disturbance of this tightly organized process ultimately causes detrimental effects. Interestingly, neurons are particularly susceptible to damage upon the presence of any alteration in the basal level of the autophagic activity; this could be due to their high metabolic demand, post-mitotic nature, and the contribution of autophagy in the different fundamental functions of neurons. Herein, we have reported the role of autophagy in different CNS disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and epilepsy, besides the pharmacological agents targeting autophagy. Due to the significant contribution of autophagy in the pathogenesis of many diseases, it is crucial to develop effective methods to detect this dynamic process. In this chapter, we have summarized the most frequently employed techniques in studying and detecting autophagy including electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, Western blotting, intracellular protein degradation, and sequestration assay.
期刊介绍:
For over 20 years, biological scientists have come to rely on the research protocols and methodologies in the critically acclaimed Methods in Molecular Biology series. The series was the first to introduce the step-by-step protocols approach that has become the standard in all biomedical protocol publishing. Each protocol is provided in readily-reproducible step-by-step fashion, opening with an introductory overview, a list of the materials and reagents needed to complete the experiment, and followed by a detailed procedure that is supported with a helpful notes section offering tips and tricks of the trade as well as troubleshooting advice.