The local anaesthetics (LAs) are widely used for peripheral nerve blocks, epidural anaesthesia, spinal anaesthesia and pain management. However, exposure to LAs for long duration or at high dosage can provoke potential neuronal damages. Autophagy is an intracellular bulk degradation process for proteins and organelles. However, both the effects of LAs on autophagy in neuronal cells and the effe...

Previous studies have indicated that autophagy plays a critical role in spinal cord injury (SCI), including traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) and ischemia-reperfusion spinal cord injury (IRSCI). However, while the understanding of mechanisms underlying autophagy in SCI has progressed, there remain several controversial points: (1) temporal pattern results of autophagic activation after SCI ar...

The protein optineurin coded by OPTN gene is involved in several functions including regulation of endocytic trafficking, autophagy and signal transduction. Certain missense mutations in the gene OPTN cause normal tension glaucoma. A glaucoma-causing mutant of optineurin, E50K, induces death selectively in retinal cells. This mutant induces defective endocytic recycling of transferrin receptor ...

Autophagy is an important homeostatic mechanism that eliminates long-lived proteins, protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Its dysregulation is involved in many neurodegenerative disorders. Autophagy is therefore a promising target for blunting neurodegeneration. We searched for novel autophagic pathways in primary neurons and identified the cytosolic sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) pathway ...

Accumulation of abnormal protein inclusions is implicated in motor neuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Autophagy, an intracellular process targeting misfolded proteins and damaged organelles for lysosomal degradation, plays crucial roles in survival and diseased conditions. Efforts were made to understand the role of autophagy in motor neuron degeneration and to target a...

Sterol regulatory element binding protein‑2 (SREBP‑2) is an important transcription factor in lipid homeostasis. A previous study showed that SREBP‑2 also activated autophagic genes during cell‑sterol depletion. Alterations in autophagy are reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, whether the regulation of SREBP‑2 restores dysfunctional a...

Ganoderma lucidum is one of the most widely studied mushroom species, particularly in what concerns its medicinal properties. Previous studies (including those from some of us) have shown some evidence that the methanolic extract of G. lucidum affects cellular autophagy. However, it was not known if it induces autophagy or decreases the autophagic flux. The treatment of a gastric adenocarcinoma...

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a major polyphenol in green tea. Recent studies have reported that EGCG can inhibit TRAIL-induced apoptosis and activate autophagic flux in cancer cells. However, the mechanism behind these processes is unclear. The present study found that EGCG prevents tumor cell death by antagonizing the TRAIL pathway and activating autophagy flux. Our results indicate that...

Mitochondrial quality control is a process by which mitochondria undergo successive rounds of fusion and fission with dynamic exchange of components to segregate functional and damaged elements. Removal of mitochondrion that contains damaged components is accomplished via autophagy. In this study, we investigated whether ginsenoside Rg3, an active ingredient of the herbal medicine ginseng that ...