title: The mitochondrial permeability transition initiates autophagy in rat hepatocytes.
abstract: Cells degrade excess and effete organelles by the process of autophagy. Autophagic stimulation of rat hepatocytes by serum deprivation and glucagon (1 M) caused a fivefold increase of spontaneously depolarizing mitochondria to about 1.5% of total mitochondria after 90 min. Cyclosporin A (CsA, 5 M), an immunosuppressant that blocks the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), prevented this depolarization. Depolarized mitochondria moved into acidic vacuoles labeled by LysoTracker Red. These autophagosomes also increased several-fold after autophagic stimulation. CsA blocked autophagosomal proliferation, whereas tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant that does not block the MPT, did not. In conclusion, the MPT initiates mitochondrial depolarization after autophagic stimulation and the subsequent sequestration of mitochondria into autophagosomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Curriculum in Toxicology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Elmore
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Grissom
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lemasters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005934:Glucagon / Q000494:pharmacology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010539:Permeability; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D005934:Glucagon