Activation of autophagy in response to nanosecond pulsed electric field exposure.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun

Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioeffects Division, Radio Frequency Bioeffects Branch, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, TX, USA.

Published: March 2015

Previous work demonstrated significant changes in cellular membranes following exposure of cells to nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF), including nanoporation and increases in intracellular calcium concentration. While it is known that nsPEF exposure can cause cell death, how cells repair and survive nsPEF-induced cellular damage is not well understood. In this paper, we investigated whether autophagy is stimulated following nsPEF exposure to repair damaged membranes, proteins, and/or organelles in a pro-survival response. We hypothesized that autophagy is activated to repair nsPEF-induced plasma membrane damage and overwhelming this compensatory mechanism results in cell death. Activation of autophagy and subsequent cell death pathways were assessed measuring toxicity, gene and protein expression of autophagy markers, and by monitoring autophagosome formation and maturation using fluorescent microscopy. Results show that autophagy is activated at subtoxic nsPEF doses, as a compensatory mechanism to repair membrane damage. However, prolonged exposure results in increased cell death and a concomitant decrease in autophagic markers. These results suggest that cells take an active role in membrane repair, through autophagy, following exposure to nsPEF.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.01.131DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cell death
16
activation autophagy
8
nanosecond pulsed
8
pulsed electric
8
nspef exposure
8
autophagy activated
8
membrane damage
8
compensatory mechanism
8
exposure
6
autophagy
6

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!