COVID-19 Severity and Thrombo-Inflammatory Response Linked to Ethnicity.

Although there is strong evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with adverse outcomes in certain ethnic groups, the association of disease severity and risk factors such as comorbidities and biomarkers with racial disparities remains undefined. This retrospective study between March 2020 and February 2021 explores COVID-19 risk factors as predictors for patients' disease progression through country comparison. Disease severity predictors in Germany and Japan were cardiovascular-associated comorbidities, dementia, and age. We adjusted age, sex, body mass index, and history of cardiovascular disease comorbidity in the country cohorts using a propensity score matching (PSM) technique to reduce the influence of differences in sample size and the surprisingly young, lean Japanese cohort. Analysis of the 170 PSM pairs confirmed that 65.29% of German and 85.29% of Japanese patients were in the uncomplicated phase. More German than Japanese patients were admitted in the complicated and critical phase. Ethnic differences were identified in patients without cardiovascular comorbidities. Japanese patients in the uncomplicated phase presented a suppressed inflammatory response and coagulopathy with hypocoagulation. In contrast, German patients exhibited a hyperactive inflammatory response and coagulopathy with hypercoagulation. These differences were less pronounced in patients in the complicated phase or with cardiovascular diseases. Coagulation/fibrinolysis-associated biomarkers rather than inflammatory-related biomarkers predicted disease severity in patients with cardiovascular comorbidities: platelet counts were associated with severe illness in German patients. In contrast, high D-dimer and fibrinogen levels predicted disease severity in Japanese patients. Our comparative study indicates that ethnicity influences COVID-19-associated biomarker expression linked to the inflammatory and coagulation (thrombo-inflammatory) response. Future studies will be necessary to determine whether these differences contributed to the less severe disease progression observed in Japanese COVID-19 patients compared with those in Germany.

A nationwide observational study of locomotive syndrome in Japan using the ResearchKit: The Locomonitor study.

BACKGROUND: We developed the Locomonitor application (app), the world's first iOS app to study locomotive syndrome, using the ResearchKit and examined the prevalence and risk factors for locomotive syndrome in Japanese general individuals 20-69 years old in a nationwide cross-sectional observational study. METHODS: The participants were recruited from February to August 2016. The outcome measures for the locomotive function were evaluated by locomotive syndrome risk tests (LSRTs) using the Locomonitor app. The chi-squared test, a linear-by-linear association trend analysis, and Spearman's correlation test were performed as statistical analyses. RESULTS: A total of 2177 subjects from all prefectures in Japan were included (average 42.2 years old). The Locomo25 and Stand-Up test scores in female participants and the Two-Step test scores in male participants showed age-dependent deterioration. In the overall population, the incidence of Locomo stage 1 and 2, as evaluated by the Locomo25, Stand-Up test or Two-Step test, was 30.2% and 29.2%, respectively. In subjects without locomotive syndrome (40.5%), LSRT scores showed age-dependent deterioration in both sexes. Locomotive syndrome in participants with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m2 was more frequent than in those with a BMI of <25 kg/m2 (age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.344 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.03-1.75, p = 0.027]). Locomotive syndrome in participants with an exercise habit was less frequent than in those without an exercise habit (age- and gender-adjusted OR 0.499 [95% CI 0.33-0.755, p < 0.0001]). CONCLUSIONS: The Locomonitor app, a newly developed remote platform, revealed that approximately 20%-30% of Japanese individuals 20-69 years old in the general population met the definition of locomotive syndrome. Locomotive syndrome in participants with obesity was more frequent than those without obesity, while locomotive syndrome in participants with an exercise habit was less frequent than those without an exercise habit.

Blocking LC3 lipidation and ATG12 conjugation reactions by ATG7 mutant protein containing C572S.

Autophagy, a system for the bulk degradation of intracellular components, is essential for homeostasis and the healthy physiology and development of cells and tissues. Its deregulation is associated with human disease. Thus, methods to modulate autophagic activity are critical for analysis of its role in mammalian cells and tissues. Here we report a method to inhibit autophagy using a mutant variant of the protein ATG7, a ubiquitin E1-like enzyme essential for autophagosome formation. During autophagy, ATG7 activates the conjugation of LC3 (ATG8) with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and ATG12 with ATG5. Human ATG7 interactions with LC3 or ATG12 require a thioester bond involving the ATG7 cysteine residue at position 572. We generated TetOff cells expressing mutant ATG7 protein carrying a serine substitution of this critical cysteine residue (ATG7C572S). Because ATG7C572S forms stable intermediate complexes with LC3 or ATG12, its expression resulted in a strong blockage of the ATG-conjugation system and suppression of autophagosome formation. Consequently, ATG7C572S mutant protein can be used as an inhibitor of autophagy.

In vitro assays of lipidation of Mammalian Atg8 homologs.

Atg8 modifier in yeast is conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine via ubiquitylation-like reactions essential for autophagy. Mammalian Atg8 homologs (Atg8s) including LC3, GABARAP, and GATE-16, are also ubiquitin-like modifiers. The carboxyl termini of mammalian Atg8 homologs are cleaved by Atg4B, a cysteine protease, to expose carboxyl terminal Gly which is essential for this ubiquitylation-like reaction. Thereafter, the Atg8 homologs are activated by Atg7, an E1-like enzyme, to form unstable Atg7-Atg8 E1-substrate intermediates via a thioester bond. The activated Atg8 homologs are transferred to mammalian Atg3, an E2-like enzyme, to form unstable Atg3-Atg8 E2-substrate intermediates via a thioester bond. Finally, Atg8 homologs are conjugated to phospholipids, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine. Here, we describe a protocol for the reconstituted conjugation systems for mammalian Atg8 homologs in vitro using purified recombinant Atg proteins and liposomes.

PARK2/Parkin-mediated mitochondrial clearance contributes to proteasome activation during slow-twitch muscle atrophy via NFE2L1 nuclear translocation.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is thought to result from hyperactivation of intracellular protein degradation pathways, including autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome system. However, the precise contributions of these pathways to muscle atrophy are unclear. Here, we show that an autophagy deficiency in denervated slow-twitch soleus muscles delayed skeletal muscle atrophy, reduced mitochondrial activity, and induced oxidative stress and accumulation of PARK2/Parkin, which participates in mitochondrial quality control (PARK2-mediated mitophagy), in mitochondria. Soleus muscles from denervated Park2 knockout mice also showed resistance to denervation, reduced mitochondrial activities, and increased oxidative stress. In both autophagy-deficient and Park2-deficient soleus muscles, denervation caused the accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins. Denervation induced proteasomal activation via NFE2L1 nuclear translocation in control mice, whereas it had little effect in autophagy-deficient and Park2-deficient mice. These results suggest that PARK2-mediated mitophagy plays an essential role in the activation of proteasomes during denervation atrophy in slow-twitch muscles.

Enrichment of GABARAP relative to LC3 in the axonal initial segments of neurons.

GABAA receptor-associated protein (GABARAP) was initially identified as a protein that interacts with GABAA receptor. Although LC3 (microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3), a GABARAP homolog, has been localized in the dendrites and cell bodies of neurons under normal conditions, the subcellular distribution of GABARAP in neurons remains unclear. Subcellular fractionation indicated that endogenous GABARAP was localized to the microsome-enriched and synaptic vesicle-enriched fractions of mouse brain as GABARAP-I, an unlipidated form. To investigate the distribution of GABARAP in neurons, we generated GFP-GABARAP transgenic mice. Immunohistochemistry in these transgenic mice showed that positive signals for GFP-GABARAP were widely distributed in neurons in various brain regions, including the hippocampus and cerebellum. Interestingly, intense diffuse and/or fibrillary expression of GFP-GABARAP was detected along the axonal initial segments (AIS) of hippocampal pyramidal neurons and cerebellar Purkinje cells, in addition to the cell bodies and dendrites of these neurons. In contrast, only slight amounts of LC3 were detected along the AIS of these neurons, while diffuse and/or fibrillary staining for LC3 was mainly detected in their cell bodies and dendrites. These results indicated that, compared with LC3, GABARAP is enriched in the AIS, in addition to the cell bodies and dendrites, of these hippocampal pyramidal neurons and cerebellar Purkinje cells.

Differences in expression patterns of cathepsin C/dipeptidyl peptidase I in normal, pathological and aged mouse central nervous system.

Cathepsin C (CC) (EC 3.4.14.1, dipeptidyl peptidase I) is a lysosomal cysteine protease that is required for the activation of several granule-associated serine proteases in vivo. CC has been shown to be constitutively expressed in various tissues, but the enzyme is hardly detectable in central nervous system (CNS) tissues. In the present study, we investigated the regional and cellular distribution of CC in normal, aging and pathological mouse brains. Immunoblotting failed to detect CC protein in whole brain tissues of normal mice, as previously described. However, low proteolytic activity of CC was detected in a brain region-dependent manner, and granular immunohistochemical signals were found in neuronal perikarya of particular brain regions, including the accessory olfactory bulb, the septum, CA2 of the hippocampus, a part of the cerebral cortex, the medial geniculate, and the inferior colliculus. In aged mice, the number of CC-positive neurons increased to some extent. The protein level of CC and its proteolytic activity showed significant increases in particular brain regions of mouse models with pathological conditions--the thalamus in cathepsin D-deficient mice, the hippocampus of ipsilateral brain hemispheres after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, and peri-damaged portions of brains after penetrating injury. In such pathological conditions, the majority of the cells that were strongly immunopositive for CC were activated microglia. These lines of evidence suggest that CC is involved in normal neuronal function in certain brain regions, and also participates in inflammatory processes accompanying pathogenesis in the CNS.

Metabolic contribution of hepatic autophagic proteolysis: old wine in new bottles.

Pioneering work on autophagy was achieved soon after the discovery of lysosomes more than 50 years ago. Due to its prominent lysosomal activity and technical ease of handling, the liver has been at the center of continuous and vigorous investigations into autophagy. Many important discoveries, including suppression by insulin and plasma amino acids and stimulation by glucagon, have been made through in vivo and in vitro studies using perfused liver and cultured hepatocytes. The long-term controversy about the origin and nature of the autophagosome membrane has finally led to the conclusion of "phagophore," through extensive molecular cell biological approaches enlightened by the discovery of autophagy-essential ATG genes. Furthermore, recent studies using liver-specific autophagy-deficient mice have thrown light on the unique role of a selective substrate of autophagy, p62. The stabilized p62 accumulating in autophagy-deficient liver manipulates Nrf2-dependent transcription activation through specific binding to Keap1, which results in the elevated gene expression involved in detoxification. This is the first example of the dysregulation of gene expression under autophagy deficiency. Thus, basal liver autophagy makes a large contribution to the maintenance of cell homeostasis and health. Meanwhile, precise comparisons of wild-type and liver-specific autophagy-deficient mice under starvation conditions have revealed that amino acids released by autophagic degradation can be metabolized to produce glucose via gluconeogenesis for the maintenance of blood glucose, and can also be excreted to the circulation to supply serum amino acids. These results strongly confirm that induced liver autophagy plays a pivotal role in metabolic compensation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteolysis 50 years after the discovery of lysosome.

Doxorubicin-induced glomerulosclerosis with proteinuria in GFP-GABARAP transgenic mice.

Autophagy is a process of cellular degradation, and its dysfunction elicits many pathological symptoms. However, the contribution of autophagy to kidney glomerular function has not been fully clarified. We previously reported that LC3, a promising executor of autophagy, played an important role in recovery from podocyte damage in an experimental nephrosis model (Asanuma K, Tanida I, Shirato I, Ueno T, Takahara H, Nishitani T, Kominami E, Tomino Y. FASEB J 17: 1165-1167, 2003). γ-Aminobutyric acid A receptor-associated protein (GABARAP), has recently been characterized as another homolog of LC3, although its precise role in autophagy remains unclear. We recently generated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-GABARAP transgenic mice, in which GFP-GABARAP is abundantly expressed in glomerular podocytes. We found that the transgenic mice showed no obvious phenotype, and podocytes isolated from these mice manifested autophagic activity almost equivalent to that of wild-type mice when measured in vitro. Surprisingly, a single injection of doxorubicin caused a greater increase in proteinuria and sclerotic glomeruli in transgenic mice compared with wild-type mice. Under these conditions, neither GFP-GABARAP nor endogenous GABARAP appeared to be recruited to autophagosomes, and both remained in the cytosol. Moreover, the cytosolic GFP-GABARAP was significantly colocalized with p62 to form aggregates. These results indicate that the GFP-GABARAP/p62 complex is responsible for impairment of glomerular function and that it retards recovery from the effects of doxorubicin.

Peroxisome degradation in mammals.

This review summarizes the historical aspects of the study of peroxisome degradation in mammalian cells. Peroxisomes have diverse metabolic roles in response to environmental changes and are degraded in a preferential manner, by comparison with cytosolic proteins. This review introduces three hypotheses on the degradation mechanisms: (a) the action of the peroxisome-specific Lon protease; (b) the membrane disruption effect of 15-lipoxygenase; and (c) autophagy that sequesters and degrades the organelles by lysosomal enzymes. Among these hypotheses, autophagy is now recognized as the most important mechanism for excess peroxisome degradation. One of the most striking characteristics of peroxisomes is that they are markedly proliferated in the liver by the administration of hypolipidemic drugs and industrial plasticizers. The effects of these substances were fully reversed after withdrawal of the substances, and most of the excess peroxisomes were selectively degraded and recovered to a normal number and size. Autophagic degradation of peroxisomes has been examined using this characteristic phenomenon. Excessive peroxisome degradation that occurs after cessation of hypolipidemic drugs has been extensively investigated biochemically and morphologically. The evidence shows that the degradation of excess peroxisomes and peroxisomal enzymes is inhibited by 3-methyladenine (3-MA), a specific inhibitor of autophagy. Furthermore, in liver-specific autophagy-deficient mice, rapid removal of peroxisomes was exclusively impaired, and degradation of peroxisomal enzymes was not detected. Thus, the significant contribution of autophagic machinery to peroxisomal degradation in mammals was confirmed. However, the important question of the mechanism for the selective recognition of peroxisomes by autophagosomes remains to be fully elucidated.

Dendrin location in podocytes is associated with disease progression in animal and human glomerulopathy.

BACKGROUND: Adriamycin (ADR) nephrosis in mice has been extensively studied and has enabled a greater understanding of the processes underlying the progression of renal injury. Dendrin is a novel component of the slit diaphragm with proapoptotic signaling properties, and it accumulates in the podocyte nucleus in response to glomerular injury in mice. The present study re-evaluated chronic progressive nephropathy in ADR mice and the localization of dendrin in mice and in human glomerulopathy. METHODS: To investigate the localization of dendrin, a mouse model of nephrosis and glomerulosclerosis was used, in which ADR was injected once. WT-1-positive cells and apoptotic cells were counted in vivo and in vitro. To check the expression of dendrin in ADR mice, immunostaining and Western blot were performed. A survey of dendrin staining was performed on human kidney biopsy specimens. RESULTS: The injection of ADR induced proteinuria, podocyte loss and glomerulosclerosis. It also caused the relocation of dendrin from the slit diaphragm to the podocyte nucleus. We demonstrated the location of dendrin to podocyte nuclei in several cases of human glomerulopathy. The mean occurrence of dendrin-positive nucleus per glomerulus increased in several cases of human glomerulopathy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the relocation of dendrin to the podocyte nuclei is useful as a novel marker of podocyte injury in human glomerulopathy.

Liver autophagy contributes to the maintenance of blood glucose and amino acid levels.

Both anabolism and catabolism of the amino acids released by starvation-induced autophagy are essential for cell survival, but their actual metabolic contributions in adult animals are poorly understood. Herein, we report that, in mice, liver autophagy makes a significant contribution to the maintenance of blood glucose by converting amino acids to glucose via gluconeogenesis. Under a synchronous fasting-initiation regimen, autophagy was induced concomitantly with a fall in plasma insulin in the presence of stable glucagon levels, resulting in a robust amino acid release. In liver-specific autophagy (Atg7)-deficient mice, no amino acid release occurred and blood glucose levels continued to decrease in contrast to those of wild-type mice. Administration of serine (30 mg/animal) exerted a comparable effect, raising the blood glucose levels in both control wild-type and mutant mice under starvation. Thus, the absence of the amino acids that were released by autophagic proteolysis is a major reason for a decrease in blood glucose. Autophagic amino acid release in control wild-type livers was significantly suppressed by the prior administration of glucose, which elicited a prompt increase in plasma insulin levels. This indicates that insulin plays a dominant role over glucagon in controlling liver autophagy. These results are the first to show that liver-specific autophagy plays a role in blood glucose regulation.

Crucial role for autophagy in degranulation of mast cells.

BACKGROUND: Autophagy plays a crucial role in controlling various biological responses including starvation, homeostatic turnover of long-lived proteins, and invasion of bacteria. However, a role for autophagy in development and/or function of mast cells is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate a role for autophagy in mast cells, we generated bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) from mice lacking autophagy related gene (Atg) 7, an essential enzyme for autophagy induction. METHODS: Bone marrow-derived mast cells were generated from bone marrow cells of control and IFN-inducible Atg7-deficient mice, and morphologic and functional analyses were performed. RESULTS: We found that conversion of type I to type II light chain (LC3)-II, a hallmark of autophagy, was constitutively induced in mast cells under full nutrient conditions, and LC3-II localized in secretory granules of mast cells. Although deletion of Atg7 did not impair the development of BMMCs, Atg7(-/-) BMMCs showed severe impairment of degranulation, but not cytokine production on FcεRI cross-linking. Intriguingly, LC3-II but not LC3-I was co-localized with CD63, a secretory lysosomal marker, and was released extracellularly along with degranulation in Atg7(+/+) but not Atg7(-/-) BMMCs. Moreover, passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reactions were severely impaired in mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/W(V) mice reconstituted with Atg7(-/-) BMMCs compared with Atg7(+/+) BMMCs. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that autophagy is not essential for the development but plays a crucial role in degranulation of mast cells. Thus, autophagy might be a potential target to treat allergic diseases in which mast cells are critically involved.

Free fatty acids stimulate autophagy in pancreatic ß-cells via JNK pathway.

Recent studies have suggested that free fatty acids stimulate autophagy of pancreatic beta cells. The aim of this study was to verify the free fatty acids (FFA)-induced autophagy and investigate its molecular mechanism. As reported previously, palmitate strongly enhanced the conversion of light chain (LC)3-I to LC3-II, a marker of activation of autophagy in INS-1 beta cells. Palmitate-induced conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II was also observed in neuron-, muscle-, and liver-derived cells. In addition, palmitate induced the formation of typical autophagosomes and autolysosomes and enhanced the degradation rate of long-lived proteins. These results confirmed that palmitate activates autophagic flux in most of the cells. While FFAs reportedly activate several signal transduction pathways in beta cells, palmitate-induced autophagy was blocked by a JNK inhibitor. Although enhanced oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are suspected to mediate FFA-induced activation of JNK1, the induction of autophagy was not associated with changes in molecular markers related to oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stresses. On the other hand, phosphorylation of double stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) paralleled JNK1 activation. Considered together, our study suggested that FFA stimulated functional autophagy possibly through the PKR-JNK1 pathway independent of ER or oxidative stress.

LC3, a microtubule-associated protein1A/B light chain3, is involved in cytoplasmic lipid droplet formation.

The cytoplasmic lipid droplet (LD) is one of organelles that has a neutral lipid core with a single phospholipid layer. LDs are believed to be generated between the two leaflets of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane and to play various roles, such as high effective energy storage. However, it remains largely unknown how LDs are generated and grow in the cytoplasm. We have previously shown that the Atg conjugation system that is essential for autophagosome formation is involved in LD formation in hepatocytes and cardiac myocytes. We show here that LC3 itself is involved in LD formation by using RNA interference (RNAi). All cultured cell lines examined, in which the expression of LC3 was suppressed by RNAi, showed reduced LD formation. Triacylglycerol, a major component of LDs, was synthesized and degraded in LC3 mRNA-knockdown cells as well as in control cells. Interestingly, potential of the bulk protein degradation in the knockdown-cells was also evident in the control cells. These findings indicate that LC3 is involved in the LD formation regardless of the bulk degradation, and that LC3 has two pivotal roles in cellular homeostasis mediated by autophagy and lipid metabolism.

The selective autophagy substrate p62 activates the stress responsive transcription factor Nrf2 through inactivation of Keap1.

Impaired selective turnover of p62 by autophagy causes severe liver injury accompanied by the formation of p62-positive inclusions and upregulation of detoxifying enzymes. These phenotypes correspond closely to the pathological conditions seen in human liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiological processes in these events are still unknown. Here we report the identification of a novel regulatory mechanism by p62 of the transcription factor Nrf2, whose target genes include antioxidant proteins and detoxification enzymes. p62 interacts with the Nrf2-binding site on Keap1, a component of Cullin-3-type ubiquitin ligase for Nrf2. Thus, an overproduction of p62 or a deficiency in autophagy competes with the interaction between Nrf2 and Keap1, resulting in stabilization of Nrf2 and transcriptional activation of Nrf2 target genes. Our findings indicate that the pathological process associated with p62 accumulation results in hyperactivation of Nrf2 and delineates unexpected roles of selective autophagy in controlling the transcription of cellular defence enzyme genes.

A novel type of E3 ligase for the Ufm1 conjugation system.

The ubiquitin fold modifier 1 (Ufm1) is the most recently discovered ubiquitin-like modifier whose conjugation (ufmylation) system is conserved in multicellular organisms. Ufm1 is known to covalently attach with cellular protein(s) via a specific E1-activating enzyme (Uba5) and an E2-conjugating enzyme (Ufc1), but its E3-ligating enzyme(s) as well as the target protein(s) remain unknown. Herein, we report both a novel E3 ligase for Ufm1, designated Ufl1, and an Ufm1-specific substrate ligated by Ufl1, C20orf116. Ufm1 was covalently conjugated with C20orf116. Although Ufl1 has no obvious sequence homology to any other known E3s for ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifiers, the C20orf116 x Ufm1 formation was greatly accelerated by Ufl1. The C20orf116 x Ufm1 conjugate was cleaved by Ufm1-specific proteases, implying the reversibility of ufmylation. The conjugation was abundant in the liver and lungs of Ufm1-transgenic mice, fractionated into membrane fraction, and impaired in Uba5 knock-out cells. Intriguingly, immunological analysis revealed localizations of Ufl1 and C20orf116 mainly to the endoplasmic reticulum. Our results provide novel insights into the Ufm1 system involved in cellular regulation of multicellular organisms.

Inhibition of hepatitis C virus replication by chloroquine targeting virus-associated autophagy.

BACKGROUND: Autophagy has been reported to play a pivotal role on the replication of various RNA viruses. In this study, we investigated the role of autophagy on hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication and demonstrated anti-HCV effects of an autophagic proteolysis inhibitor, chloroquine. METHODS: Induction of autophagy was evaluated following the transfection of HCV replicon to Huh-7 cells. Next, we investigated the replication of HCV subgenomic replicon in response to treatment with lysosomal protease inhibitors or pharmacological autophagy inhibitor. The effect on HCV replication was analyzed after transfection with siRNA of ATG5, ATG7 and light-chain (LC)-3 to replicon cells. The antiviral effect of chloroquine and/or interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) was evaluated. RESULTS: The transfection of HCV replicon increased the number of autophagosomes to about twofold over untransfected cells. Pharmacological inhibition of autophagic proteolysis significantly suppressed expression level of HCV replicon. Silencing of autophagy-related genes by siRNA transfection significantly blunted the replication of HCV replicon. Treatment of replicon cells with chloroquine suppressed the replication of the HCV replicon in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, combination treatment of chloroquine to IFNalpha enhanced the antiviral effect of IFNalpha and prevented re-propagation of HCV replicon. Protein kinase R was activated in cells treated with IFNalpha but not with chloroquine. Incubation with chloroquine decreased degradation of long-lived protein leucine. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the replication of HCV replicon utilizes machinery involving cellular autophagic proteolysis. The therapy targeted to autophagic proteolysis by using chloroquine may provide a new therapeutic option against chronic hepatitis C.

Autophagic compartments gain access to the MHC class II compartments in thymic epithelium.

The presentation of self-peptides in the context of MHC molecules by thymic epithelial cells (TECs) is essential for T cell repertoire selection in the thymus. However, the underlying mechanisms of this process have not been fully elucidated. To address whether autophagy, a catabolic process involving the degradation of a cell's components through the lysosomal machinery, intersects the MHC class II-restricted Ag presentation pathway in TECs, we investigated the colocalization of LC3, a peculiar autophagy marker molecule, with MHC class II compartments in in vitro-established TEC lines by immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blotting analyses. We found that in both cortical and medullary TEC lines, LC3 was colocalized with the H2-DM-positive lysosomal compartments, in which MHC class II plus class II-associated invariant chain peptides complexes are formed. Furthermore, our analysis of thymic cryosections from 1-day-old mice revealed that LC3 colocalizes with the H2-DM-positive compartments in TECs. These results strongly suggest that the cytoplasmic self-Ags gain access to the H2-DM-positive compartments via the autophagic process in the thymus.