Autophagy in Premature Senescent Cells Is Activated via AMPK Pathway

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Liujing Guo¹  Bushan Xie² 

[1] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; E-Mails:;Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China; E-Mail:

关键词: autophagy;    senescent cells;    apoptosis;    FoxO3A;    AMPK;    fibroblasts;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms13033563

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Autophagy is a highly regulated intracellular process involved in the turnover of most cellular constituents and in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. In this study, we show that the activity of autophagy increases in H₂O₂ or RasV12-induced senescent fibroblasts. Inhibiting autophagy promotes cell apoptosis in senescent cells, suggesting that autophagy activation plays a cytoprotective role. Furthermore, our data indicate that the increase of autophagy in senescent cells is linked to the activation of transcription factor FoxO3A, which blocks ATP generation by transcriptionally up-regulating the expression of PDK4, an inhibitor of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, thus leading to AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition. These findings suggest a novel mechanism by which FoxO3A factors can activate autophagy via metabolic alteration.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.