title: Autophagic flux is highly active in early mitosis and differentially regulated throughout the cell cycle.
abstract: Mitosis is a fast process that involves dramatic cellular remodeling and has a high energy demand. Whether autophagy is active or inactive during the early stages of mitosis in a naturally dividing cell is still debated. Here we aimed to use multiple assays to resolve this apparent discrepancy. Although the LC3 puncta number was reduced in mitosis, the four different cell lines we tested all have active autophagic flux in both interphase and mitosis. In addition, the autophagic flux was highly active in nocodazole-induced, double-thymidine synchronization released as well as naturally occurring mitosis in HeLa cells. Multiple autophagy proteins are upregulated in mitosis and the increased Beclin-1 level likely contributes to the active autophagic flux in early mitosis. It is interesting that although the autophagic flux is active throughout the cell cycle, early mitosis and S phase have relatively higher autophagic flux than G1 and late G2 phases, which might be helpful to degrade the damaged organelles and provide energy during S phase and mitosis.
authors.affiliation: High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xinmiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China.|University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China.|University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Juanjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D000071186:Beclin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D016466:CHO Cells; D002453:Cell Cycle; D003412:Cricetulus; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007399:Interphase; D051379:Mice; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D015739:Nocodazole / Q000737:chemistry; D034622:RNA Interference; D013936:Thymidine / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: C491997:BECN1 protein, human; D000071186:Beclin-1; C477012:MAP1LC3A protein, human; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D015739:Nocodazole; D013936:Thymidine
keywords: LC3; autophagic flux; autophagy; cell synchronization; mitosis