Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

siRNA Electroporation to Modulate Autophagy in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1-Infected Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells
Published on: October 28, 2019
Pharmacological Tools to Modulate Autophagy in Neurodegenerative Diseases
S N Suresh1, Anushka Chakravorty2, Mridhula Giridharan2
1Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, Karnataka, India.
Abstract:
Considerable evidences suggest a link between autophagy dysfunction, protein aggregation, and neurodegenerative diseases. Given that autophagy is a conserved intracellular housekeeping process, modulation of autophagy flux in various model organisms have highlighted its importance for maintaining proteostasis. In postmitotic cells such as neurons, compromised autophagy is sufficient to cause accumulation of ubiquitinated aggregates, neuronal dysfunction, degeneration, and loss of motor coordination-all hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases. Reciprocally, enhanced autophagy flux augments cellular and organismal health, in addition to extending life span. These genetic studies not-withstanding a plethora of small molecule modulators of autophagy flux have been reported that alleviate disease symptoms in models of neurodegenerative diseases. This review summarizes the potential of such molecules to be, perhaps, one of the first autophagy drugs for treating these currently incurable diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Alzheimer's Disease: Treatment
Drugs Affecting Neurotransmitter Synthesis
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...

