title: Autophagy and amino acid metabolism in the brain: implications for epilepsy.
abstract: Autophagy is a catabolic pathway responsible for the maintenance of the tissue and organism homeostasis. Several amino acids regulate autophagic activity in different tissues, such as liver and muscle, but much less is known about this regulation in the brain. The lack of autophagy in neurons leads to a strong neurodegenerative phenotype and epileptic disorders. We summarize the current knowledge about the regulation of autophagy mediated by amino acids and how macroautophagy could serve as source of amino acids. We review the contribution of macroautophagy in the brain physiology and pathology emphasizing the relevancy of the proper control of amino acid levels such as glutamate and GABA in the brain due to its role as neurotransmitters and energy source. Furthermore, we discuss how malfunction in autophagy may result in pathological consequences, because many genetic epileptic disorders are related to signaling or metabolic pathways controlling both macroautophagy and amino acid metabolism in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Chanin Building Room 502, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Eloy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bejarano
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Chanin Building Room 502, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA. jose.a.rodriguez@hrc.es.|Servicio de Neurobiología, Departamento de Investigación, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Ramon y Cajal de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Carretera de Colmenar, km 9,100, Madrid, Spain. jose.a.rodriguez@hrc.es.
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Navarro
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids
keywords: Epilepsy; Glutamine; Ketogenic diet; Leucine; Macroautophagy; mTOR