title: Exposure to BDE-153 induces autophagy in HepG2 cells.
abstract: Autophagy is a pro-survival process that occurs under stressful "life-threatening" conditions. This process clears the cells of damaged organelles, long-lived proteins, and/or misfolded proteins. Under stressful conditions, activation of the autophagic process leads to cell death and acts as a protective mechanism against xenobiotic, which is the most widely accepted mechanism in the literature. Exposure to flame retardants and other pollutants is associated with several diseases, during which cell death and mitochondrial damage takes place. Although a body of research has aimed to understand the toxicity mechanism of flame retardants better, risk evaluation and the consequences of exposure to these toxicants have been poorly described. In this work, we have found that the BDE-153 congener (representant of flame retardants) induces autophagy after 24 and 48h (0.1-25μM). The autophagic process is associated with accumulation of lysosomes, and process triggering is evident from the levels of autophagy-related proteins such as p62 and LC3. Mitophagy (an autophagic process that specifically involves damaged mitochondria) may be involved, as judged from the decreased amount of mitochondrial DNA. Taken together, our results point out that induction of autophagy upon cell should contribute to better understanding of the consequences of human exposure to this class of environmental contaminants.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, CEP:14040901, Bairro Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil; Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Botucatu, Departamento Bioprocessos e Biotecnologia, Fazenda Experimental de Lageado, Rua José Barbosa de Barros, no. 1780, CEP: 18.610-307, Bairro Jardim Paraíso, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: liliancp@fca.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Lilian Cristina
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, Faculdade de Medicina, Pólo 1, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Filipe Valente
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, Faculdade de Medicina, Pólo 1, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Teresa Inácio Ferreira
authors.initials: ATIF
authors.lastname: Varela
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, Faculdade de Medicina, Pólo 1, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal; Universidade de Coimbra, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Apartado 3046, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Anabela Pinto
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Rolo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, Faculdade de Medicina, Pólo 1, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal; Universidade de Coimbra, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Apartado 3046, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos Manuel Marques
authors.initials: CMM
authors.lastname: Palmeira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, CEP:14040901, Bairro Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniel Junqueira
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dorta
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000633:toxicity*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005411:Flame Retardants; C477012:MAP1LC3A protein, human; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; C517828:hexabrominated diphenyl ether 153
keywords: Autophagy induction; BDE-153, flame retardants; Mitophagy