Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

Chlamydia Control: A Comparative Review from the USA and UK

Chlamydia trachomatis infection (chlamydia) is the most common notifiable bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide. In the United States of America (USA) in 2009, 1,244,180 cases of chlamydia were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the largest number of cases ever reported to CDC for any notifiable disease [1]. It has been estimated, from population prevalence surveys, that approximately 2 % of sexually active adults aged 18–44 years old in the UK [2] and 2.2 % (CI, 1.8–2.8 %) of the US population aged 14–39 years [3] are infected with chlamydia. This level of prevalence in the USA translates into an estimated 2,291,000 (95 % confidence interval, CI, 1,857,000–2,838,000) chlamydia infections each year [3]. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are about 92 million new cases of chlamydia each year [4].

1892

von Alfred Frhr von Eberstein

Die Stuttgarter Oberbürgermeisterwahl vom November 1892 als Beitrag zur Auslegung des Reichsgesetzes betreffend die Gleichberechtigung der Konfessionen und damit insbesondere zur Feststellung des in der "Judenfrage" geltenden Rechts

[Albert Bacher]

Ahlwardt im Kampf mit dem Gesetz : Vortr., geh. in e. Versamml. d. "Vereinigung zur Bekämpfung d. Racenhetze" am 5. Aug. 1892

von Ed. Mund [d.i. Edmund Lichtenstein]