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Assessing Tissue-Specific Autophagy Flux in Adult Caenorhabditis elegans

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Aging

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2144))

Abstract

The cellular recycling process of autophagy is essential for survival, development, and homeostasis. Autophagy also plays an important role in aging and has been linked to longevity in many species, including the nematode C. elegans. Study of the physiological roles of autophagy during C. elegans aging requires methods for the spatiotemporal analysis of autophagy. Here we describe a method for assessing autophagic flux in multiple tissues of C. elegans by quantifying the pool of autophagic vesicles using fluorescently labelled Atg8/LGG-1 reporters upon autophagy inhibition using bafilomycin A1 (BafA). This methodology has revealed that autophagic activity varies in different cell types of C. elegans during aging.

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Change history

  • 05 August 2020

    Correction to: Chapter 17 in: Sean P. Curran (ed.), Aging: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2144

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Acknowledgments

The nematode strains used in this work can be obtained by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (University of Minnesota), which is supported by the NIH—Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (P40 OD010440). This work was funded by the Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research from The Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR (to M.H.), and by NIH grants AG058038 (to C.K.) and AG028664 (to M.H.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Jessica T. Chang, Malene Hansen & Caroline Kumsta

Authors
  1. Jessica T. Chang
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  2. Malene Hansen
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  3. Caroline Kumsta
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Malene Hansen or Caroline Kumsta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sean P. Curran

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Chang, J.T., Hansen, M., Kumsta, C. (2020). Assessing Tissue-Specific Autophagy Flux in Adult Caenorhabditis elegans. In: Curran, S. (eds) Aging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2144. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0592-9_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0592-9_17

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0591-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0592-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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