scholarly journals Acinus integrates AKT1 and subapoptotic caspase activities to regulate basal autophagy

2014 ◽  
Vol 207 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilay Nandi ◽  
Lauren K. Tyra ◽  
Drew Stenesen ◽  
Helmut Krämer

How cellular stresses up-regulate autophagy is not fully understood. One potential regulator is the Drosophila melanogaster protein Acinus (Acn), which is necessary for autophagy induction and triggers excess autophagy when overexpressed. We show that cell type–specific regulation of Acn depends on proteolysis by the caspase Dcp-1. Basal Dcp-1 activity in developing photoreceptors is sufficient for this cleavage without a need for apoptosis to elevate caspase activity. On the other hand, Acn was stabilized by loss of Dcp-1 function or by the presence of a mutation in Acn that eliminates its conserved caspase cleavage site. Acn stability also was regulated by AKT1-mediated phosphorylation. Flies that expressed stabilized forms of Acn, either the phosphomimetic AcnS641,731D or the caspase-resistant AcnD527A, exhibited enhanced basal autophagy. Physiologically, these flies showed improvements in processes known to be autophagy dependent, including increased starvation resistance, reduced Huntingtin-induced neurodegeneration, and prolonged life span. These data indicate that AKT1 and caspase-dependent regulation of Acn stability adjusts basal autophagy levels.

Author(s):  
Hee-Dae Kim ◽  
Jing Wei ◽  
Tanessa Call ◽  
Nicole Teru Quintus ◽  
Alexander J. Summers ◽  
...  

AbstractDepression is the leading cause of disability and produces enormous health and economic burdens. Current treatment approaches for depression are largely ineffective and leave more than 50% of patients symptomatic, mainly because of non-selective and broad action of antidepressants. Thus, there is an urgent need to design and develop novel therapeutics to treat depression. Given the heterogeneity and complexity of the brain, identification of molecular mechanisms within specific cell-types responsible for producing depression-like behaviors will advance development of therapies. In the reward circuitry, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key brain region of depression pathophysiology, possibly based on differential activity of D1- or D2- medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Here we report a circuit- and cell-type specific molecular target for depression, Shisa6, recently defined as an AMPAR component, which is increased only in D1-MSNs in the NAc of susceptible mice. Using the Ribotag approach, we dissected the transcriptional profile of D1- and D2-MSNs by RNA sequencing following a mouse model of depression, chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). Bioinformatic analyses identified cell-type specific genes that may contribute to the pathogenesis of depression, including Shisa6. We found selective optogenetic activation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to NAc circuit increases Shisa6 expression in D1-MSNs. Shisa6 is specifically located in excitatory synapses of D1-MSNs and increases excitability of neurons, which promotes anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in mice. Cell-type and circuit-specific action of Shisa6, which directly modulates excitatory synapses that convey aversive information, identifies the protein as a potential rapid-antidepressant target for aberrant circuit function in depression.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. e145-e145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Liu ◽  
G Yang ◽  
X Bu ◽  
G Liu ◽  
J Ding ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels R. Ntamati ◽  
Meaghan Creed ◽  
Christian Lüscher

AbstractNeurons in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) modulate threat responses and nociception. Activity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) on the other hand can cause reinforcement and aversion. While in many situations these behaviors are related, the anatomical substrate of a crosstalk between the PAG and VTA remains poorly understood. Here we describe the anatomical and electrophysiological organization of the VTA-projecting PAG neurons. Using rabies-based, cell type-specific retrograde tracing, we observed that PAG to VTA projection neurons are evenly distributed along the rostro-caudal axis of the PAG, but concentrated in its posterior and ventrolateral segments. Optogenetic projection targeting demonstrated that the PAG-to-VTA pathway is predominantly excitatory and targets similar proportions of Ih-expressing VTA DA and GABA neurons. Taken together, these results set the framework for functional analysis of the interplay between PAG and VTA in the regulation of reward and aversion.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (43) ◽  
pp. 44756-44762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisayoshi Yoshizaki ◽  
Yusuke Ohba ◽  
Maria-Carla Parrini ◽  
Natalya G. Dulyaninova ◽  
Anne R. Bresnick ◽  
...  

Cell Cycle ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (24) ◽  
pp. 4176-4178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gennady Kholodii ◽  
Olga Dantsevich ◽  
Gleb Korobov ◽  
Vyacheslav Tarantul

Virology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 202 (2) ◽  
pp. 695-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Bailey ◽  
Robina Ullah ◽  
Vivien Mautner

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