Brain-derived neurotrophic factor stimulates the retrograde pathway for axonal autophagy.

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway important for neuronal development, function, and survival. How autophagy in axons is regulated by neurotrophins to impact neuronal viability and function is poorly understood. Here, we use live-cell imaging in primary neurons to investigate the regulation of axonal autophagy by the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and elucidate whether autophagosomes carry BDNF-mediated signaling information.

Retrograde Axonal Autophagy and Endocytic Pathways Are Parallel and Separate in Neurons.

Autophagy and endocytic trafficking are two key pathways that regulate the composition and integrity of the neuronal proteome. Alterations in these pathways are sufficient to cause neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, defining how autophagy and endocytic pathways are organized in neurons remains a key area of investigation.

Proteasomal inhibition preferentially stimulates lysosome activity relative to autophagic flux in primary astrocytes.

Neurons and astrocytes face unique demands on their proteome to enable proper function and survival of the nervous system. Consequently, both cell types are critically dependent on robust quality control pathways such as macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) and the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). We previously reported that autophagy is differentially regulated in astrocytes and neurons in the context of metabolic stress, but less is understood in the context of proteotoxic stress induced by inhibition of the UPS.

Organization of the autophagy pathway in neurons.

Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is an essential quality-control pathway in neurons, which face unique functional and morphological challenges in maintaining the integrity of organelles and the proteome. To overcome these challenges, neurons have developed compartment-specific pathways for autophagy. In this review, we discuss the organization of the autophagy pathway, from autophagosome biogenesis, trafficking, to clearance, in the neuron.

A robust Pax7EGFP mouse that enables the visualization of dynamic behaviors of muscle stem cells.

Background: Pax7 is a transcription factor involved in the specification and maintenance of muscle stem cells (MuSCs). Upon injury, MuSCs leave their quiescent state, downregulate Pax7 and differentiate, contributing to skeletal muscle regeneration. In the majority of regeneration studies, MuSCs are isolated by fluorescence-activated sorting (FACS), based on cell surface markers.

Single Stem Cell Imaging and Analysis Reveals Telomere Length Differences in Diseased Human and Mouse Skeletal Muscles.

Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) contribute to muscle regeneration following injury. In many muscle disorders, the repeated cycles of damage and repair lead to stem cell dysfunction. While telomere attrition may contribute to aberrant stem cell functions, methods to accurately measure telomere length in stem cells from skeletal muscles have not been demonstrated.