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The Role of Autophagy within Central and Peripheral Nervous System and Sensory Organs

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 March 2024) | Viewed by 5844

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Francesco Fornai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: neuroanatomy; neuroscience; neurodegeneration; methamphetamine; autophagy; movement disorders; substances of abuse; morphology; ultrastructure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A number of studies are now available showing that autophagy plays a fundamental role in regulating the integrity of a number of cell types within the central and peripheral nervous system including sensory organs.

The present special issue is designed to provide original data, commentaries, and review articles to provide in depth perspective of the beneficial and/or detrimental role of autophagy in a variety of nervous organs. These are supposed to include key brain regions and spinal cord as well as the peripheral nerves and sensory organs. 

The special issue is designed to host relevant manuscript approaching autophagy by morphological, biochemical and molecular techniques. The studies on the regulation of baseline autophagy are welcome while in keeping with the journal session devoted to pathology, the outcome of the autophagy status in specific disorders represents a major issue of the special issue.

The inclusion of the peripheral nervous system and sensory organ is thought with the aim to extend the relevance of autophagy beyond the central nervous system where most evidence is obtained by previous studies.

The special issue aims to host also provocative manuscript where novel perspective are formulated along with preliminary data suggesting unexpected outcomes.

The main part of the issue is designed to cover the role of autophagy in specific disorders of the central, peripheral and sensory nervous system both in cellular preclinical and clinical settings.

Potential autophagy-based innovative therapeutic strategies are welcome along with novel techniques developed to dissect the autophagy machinery and novel autophagy-related pathway and organelles.

Dr. Francesco Fornai
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • autophagy
  • nervous
  • cellular
  • therapeutic strategies
  • organelles

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

42 pages, 7908 KiB  
Review
The Relevance of Autophagy within Inner Ear in Baseline Conditions and Tinnitus-Related Syndromes
by Gloria Lazzeri, Francesca Biagioni, Michela Ferrucci, Stefano Puglisi-Allegra, Paola Lenzi, Carla Letizia Busceti, Francesco Giannessi and Francesco Fornai
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(23), 16664; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242316664 - 23 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1959
Abstract
Tinnitus is the perception of noise in the absence of acoustic stimulation (phantom noise). In most patients suffering from chronic peripheral tinnitus, an alteration of outer hair cells (OHC) starting from the stereocilia (SC) occurs. This is common following ototoxic drugs, sound-induced ototoxicity, [...] Read more.
Tinnitus is the perception of noise in the absence of acoustic stimulation (phantom noise). In most patients suffering from chronic peripheral tinnitus, an alteration of outer hair cells (OHC) starting from the stereocilia (SC) occurs. This is common following ototoxic drugs, sound-induced ototoxicity, and acoustic degeneration. In all these conditions, altered coupling between the tectorial membrane (TM) and OHC SC is described. The present review analyzes the complex interactions involving OHC and TM. These need to be clarified to understand which mechanisms may underlie the onset of tinnitus and why the neuropathology of chronic degenerative tinnitus is similar, independent of early triggers. In fact, the fine neuropathology of tinnitus features altered mechanisms of mechanic-electrical transduction (MET) at the level of OHC SC. The appropriate coupling between OHC SC and TM strongly depends on autophagy. The involvement of autophagy may encompass degenerative and genetic tinnitus, as well as ototoxic drugs and acoustic trauma. Defective autophagy explains mitochondrial alterations and altered protein handling within OHC and TM. This is relevant for developing novel treatments that stimulate autophagy without carrying the burden of severe side effects. Specific phytochemicals, such as curcumin and berberin, acting as autophagy activators, may mitigate the neuropathology of tinnitus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Autophagy within Central and Peripheral Nervous System and Sensory Organs)
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17 pages, 1326 KiB  
Review
Induction of Autophagy and Its Role in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration after Peripheral Nerve Injury
by Dong Keon Yon, Yong Jun Kim, Dong Choon Park, Su Young Jung, Sung Soo Kim, Joon Hyung Yeo, Jeongmin Lee, Jae Min Lee and Seung Geun Yeo
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(22), 16219; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216219 - 11 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1886
Abstract
No matter what treatment is used after nerve transection, a complete cure is impossible, so basic and clinical research is underway to find a cure. As part of this research, autophagy is being investigated for its role in nerve regeneration. Here, we review [...] Read more.
No matter what treatment is used after nerve transection, a complete cure is impossible, so basic and clinical research is underway to find a cure. As part of this research, autophagy is being investigated for its role in nerve regeneration. Here, we review the existing literature regarding the involvement and significance of autophagy in peripheral nerve injury and regeneration. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to assess the induction and role of autophagy in peripheral nerve injury and subsequent regeneration. Studies were included if they were prospective or retrospective investigations of autophagy and facial or peripheral nerves. Articles not mentioning autophagy or the facial or peripheral nerves, review articles, off-topic articles, and those not written in English were excluded. A total of 14 peripheral nerve studies that met these criteria, including 11 involving sciatic nerves, 2 involving facial nerves, and 1 involving the inferior alveolar nerve, were included in this review. Studies conducted on rats and mice have demonstrated activation of autophagy and expression of related factors in peripheral nerves with or without stimulation of autophagy-inducing factors such as rapamycin, curcumin, three-dimensional melatonin nerve scaffolds, CXCL12, resveratrol, nerve growth factor, lentinan, adipose-derived stem cells and melatonin, basic fibroblast growth factor, and epothilone B. Among the most studied of these factors in relation to degeneration and regeneration of facial and sciatic nerves are LC3II/I, PI3K, mTOR, Beclin-1, ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG9, and ATG12. This analysis indicates that autophagy is involved in the process of nerve regeneration following facial and sciatic nerve damage. Inadequate autophagy induction or failure of autophagy responses can result in regeneration issues after peripheral nerve damage. Animal studies suggest that autophagy plays an important role in peripheral nerve degeneration and regeneration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Autophagy within Central and Peripheral Nervous System and Sensory Organs)
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25 pages, 3406 KiB  
Review
The Essential Role of Light-Induced Autophagy in the Inner Choroid/Outer Retinal Neurovascular Unit in Baseline Conditions and Degeneration
by Roberto Pinelli, Michela Ferrucci, Caterina Berti, Francesca Biagioni, Elena Scaffidi, Violet Vakunseth Bumah, Carla L. Busceti, Paola Lenzi, Gloria Lazzeri and Francesco Fornai
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(10), 8979; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24108979 - 19 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1620
Abstract
The present article discusses the role of light in altering autophagy, both within the outer retina (retinal pigment epithelium, RPE, and the outer segment of photoreceptors) and the inner choroid (Bruch’s membrane, BM, endothelial cells and the pericytes of choriocapillaris, CC). Here autophagy [...] Read more.
The present article discusses the role of light in altering autophagy, both within the outer retina (retinal pigment epithelium, RPE, and the outer segment of photoreceptors) and the inner choroid (Bruch’s membrane, BM, endothelial cells and the pericytes of choriocapillaris, CC). Here autophagy is needed to maintain the high metabolic requirements and to provide the specific physiological activity sub-serving the process of vision. Activation or inhibition of autophagy within RPE strongly depends on light exposure and it is concomitant with activation or inhibition of the outer segment of the photoreceptors. This also recruits CC, which provides blood flow and metabolic substrates. Thus, the inner choroid and outer retina are mutually dependent and their activity is orchestrated by light exposure in order to cope with metabolic demand. This is tuned by the autophagy status, which works as a sort of pivot in the cross-talk within the inner choroid/outer retina neurovascular unit. In degenerative conditions, and mostly during age-related macular degeneration (AMD), autophagy dysfunction occurs in this area to induce cell loss and extracellular aggregates. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the autophagy status encompassing CC, RPE and interposed BM is key to understanding the fine anatomy and altered biochemistry which underlie the onset and progression of AMD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Autophagy within Central and Peripheral Nervous System and Sensory Organs)
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