- Browse by Author
Browsing by Author "Hong, Liang"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Discovery of a small molecule targeting autophagy via ATG4B inhibition and cell death of colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo(Taylor & Francis, 2019-02) Fu, Yuanyuan; Hong, Liang; Xu, Jiecheng; Zhong, Guoping; Gu, Qiong; Gu, Qianqian; Guan, Yanping; Zheng, Xueping; Dai, Qi; Luo, Xia; Liu, Cui; Huang, Zhiying; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Liu, Peiqing; Li, Min; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineHuman Atg4 homologs are cysteine proteases, which play key roles in the macroautophagy/autophagy process by cleaving Atg8 homologs for conjugation to lipid membranes and for deconjugation of Atg8 homologs from membranes. Expression of ATG4B is significantly increased in colorectal cancer cells compared to normal cells, suggesting that ATG4B may be important for cancer biology. Inhibition of ATG4B may reduce the autophagy activity, thereby sensitizing cancer cells to therapeutic agents. Thus, developing specific and potent ATG4B inhibitors for research as well as for potential therapeutic uses is highly needed. In this study, we integrated in silico screening and in vitro assays to discover a potent ATG4B inhibitor, named S130, from a noncommercial library. This chemical binds to ATG4B with strong affinity and specifically suppresses the activity of ATG4B but not other proteases. S130 did not cause the impairment of autophagosome fusion, nor did it result in the dysfunction of lysosomes. Instead, S130 might attenuate the delipidation of LC3-II on the autolysosomes to suppress the recycling of LC3-I, which normally occurs after LC3-II cleavage by ATG4B. Intriguingly, S130 induced cell death, which was accompanied with autophagy stress and could be further exacerbated by nutrient deprivation. Such cytotoxicity could be partially reversed by enhancing ATG4B activity. Finally, we found that S130 was distributed in tumor tissues in vivo and was also effective in arresting the growth of colorectal cancer cells. Thus, this study indicates that ATG4B is a potential anticancer target and S130 might be a novel small-molecule candidate for future cancer therapy.Item Golgi-associated LC3 lipidation requires V-ATPase in noncanonical autophagy(Nature Publishing Group, 2016-08-11) Gao, Ying; Liu, Yajun; Hong, Liang; Yang, Zuolong; Cai, Xinran; Chen, Xiaoyun; Fu, Yuanyuan; Lin, Yujie; Wen, Weijie; Li, Sitong; Liu, Xingguo; Huang, Heqing; Vogt, Andreas; Liu, Peiqing; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Li, Min; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineAutophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process by which cells degrade intracellular proteins and organelles in the lysosomes. Canonical autophagy requires all autophagy proteins (ATGs), whereas noncanonical autophagy is activated by diverse agents in which some of the essential autophagy proteins are dispensable. How noncanonical autophagy is induced and/or inhibited is still largely unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that AMDE-1, a recently identified chemical that can induce canonical autophagy, was able to elicit noncanonical autophagy that is independent of the ULK1 (unc-51-like kinase 1) complex and the Beclin1 complex. AMDE-1-induced noncanonical autophagy could be specifically suppressed by various V-ATPase (vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase) inhibitors, but not by disturbance of the lysosome function or the intracellular ion redistribution. Similar findings were applicable to a diverse group of stimuli that can induce noncanonical autophagy in a FIP200-independent manner. AMDE-1-induced LC3 lipidation was colocalized with the Golgi complex, and was inhibited by the disturbance of Golgi complex. The integrity of the Golgi complex was also required for multiple other agents to stimulate noncanonical LC3 lipidation. These results suggest that the Golgi complex may serve as a membrane platform for noncanonical autophagy where V-ATPase is a key player. V-ATPase inhibitors could be useful tools for studying noncanonical autophagy.Item Niclosamide Triggers Non-Canonical LC3 Lipidation(MDPI, 2019-03-15) Liu, Yajun; Luo, Xia; Shan, Hao; Fu, Yuanyuan; Gu, Qianqian; Zheng, Xueping; Dai, Qi; Xia, Fan; Zheng, Zhihua; Liu, Peiqing; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Hong, Liang; Li, Min; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineAutophagy is a highly- evolutionarily-conserved catabolic pathway activated by various cellular stresses. Recently, non-canonical autophagy (NCA), which does not require all of the ATG proteins to form autophagosome or autophagosome-like structures, has been found in various conditions. Moreover, mounting evidence has indicated that non-canonical LC3 lipidation (NCLL) may reflect NCA. We and others have reported that niclosamide (Nic), an anti-helminthic drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration, could induce canonical autophagy via a feedback downregulation of mTOR complex 1. In this study, we found that Nic could also induce NCLL, which is independent of the ULK1 complex and Beclin 1 complex, but dependent on ubiquitin-like conjugation systems. Although bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A, two known V-ATPase inhibitors, significantly inhibited Nic-induced NCLL, Nic-induced NCLL was demonstrated to be independent of V-ATPase. In addition, the Golgi complex and vimentin were involved in Nic-induced NCLL, which might be a platform or membrane source for Nic-induced LC3-positive structures. These results would be helpful to broaden our understanding of the working mechanisms of Nic and evaluate its pharmacological activities in diseases.Item Targeting ATG4 in Cancer Therapy(MDPI, 2019-05-10) Fu, Yuanyuan; Huang, Zhiying; Hong, Liang; Lu, Jia-Hong; Feng, Du; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Li, Min; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineAutophagy is a lysosome-mediated degradation pathway that enables the degradation and recycling of cytoplasmic components to sustain metabolic homoeostasis. Recently, autophagy has been reported to have an astonishing number of connections to cancer, as tumor cells require proficient autophagy in response to metabolic and therapeutic stresses to sustain cell proliferation. Autophagy-related gene 4 (ATG4) is essential for autophagy by affecting autophagosome formation through processing full-length microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (pro-LC3) and lipidated LC3. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that ATG4B expression is elevated in certain types of cancer, implying that ATG4B is a potential anticancer target. In this review, we address the central roles of ATG4B in the autophagy machinery and in targeted cancer therapy. Specifically, we discuss how pharmacologically inhibiting ATG4B can benefit cancer therapies.