2014年10月16日 訊 /生物谷BIOON/ --近日,來自史丹福大學醫學院的研究人員發現了細胞保護機制和其肌肉乾細胞激活之間的關聯。細胞自噬作用可再循環其「結構部件」,並在其營養不足時產生能量。科學家們在EMBO雜誌報告說,當這種保護機制被運作時它似乎也協助幹細胞被激活。
「我們的研究表明,當幹細胞從靜止狀態開始活動時就會在它們的代謝活動中產生一種快速和戲劇性的變化,」Thomas Rando說。「自噬誘導似乎是這些代謝變化的重要組成部分,使幹細胞能夠應對蛋白質和DNA等大分子的合成的要素即營養和「結構部件」的應激需求,蛋白質和DNA含量由於細胞的快速增長而上升。」
自噬作用中細胞器被專門的液泡雙膜所包繞。這些液泡的內容物被傳遞到另一個細胞內的細胞器溶酶體中,在那裡它們被降解成有用的小分子並幫助大分子和新細胞器的合成產生能量和生物量。
當幹細胞被激活時並促成蛋白質和其它大分子的生物合成後,在細胞代謝中細胞就會產生巨大變化。科學家們發現自噬作用是在肌肉乾細胞被激活時才會啟動。他們還表明,當自噬作用被抑制時,幹細胞的激活過程就會被延遲。
研究人員已證明一個已知的營養傳感器SIRT1,它能調節肌肉乾細胞的自噬作用。當研究人員利用基因方法或用化學抑制劑治療法幹擾這種蛋白質時就能夠延緩肌肉乾細胞的激活。「這項研究確定了在肌肉乾細胞激活作用過程中自噬作用會做為一個關鍵的檢查點。」Amy Wagers教授說。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
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Induction of autophagy supports the bioenergetic demands of quiescent muscle stem cell activation.
1.Anne H. Tang and Thomas A. Rando..
Abstract The exit of a stem cell out of quiescence into an activated state is characterized by major metabolic changes associated with increased biosynthesis of proteins and macromolecules. The regulation of this transition is poorly understood. Using muscle stem cells, or satellite cells (SCs), we found that autophagy, which catabolizes intracellular contents to maintain proteostasis and to produce energy during nutrient deprivation, was induced during SC activation. Inhibition of autophagy suppressed the increase in ATP levels and delayed SC activation, both of which could be partially rescued by exogenous pyruvate as an energy source, suggesting that autophagy may provide nutrients necessary to meet bioenergetic demands during this critical transition from quiescence to activation. We found that SIRT1, a known nutrient sensor, regulates autophagic flux in SC progeny. A deficiency of SIRT1 led to a delay in SC activation that could also be partially rescued by exogenous pyruvate. These studies suggest that autophagy, regulated by SIRT1, may play an important role during SC activation to meet the high bioenergetic demands of the activation process.