Introduction to autophagy, research details and pretty pictures of sciencey stuff..

So in an hour I'll be attending the first day of my research project. Before going any further I thought it best to do a short piece on what autophagy is and what exactly it is I'll be researching to give my future posts some context. So strap yourselves in and hold onto your hats! It's about to get sciencey up in here;

What's autophagy?

In a nutshell autophagy acts your cells internal demolitions and clean-up team. Cells are filled with long and short lived organelles and proteins, the molecular machines which drive our metabolic processes and constitute life. If these micro machines break down, are created defective, or simply pass their 'cell by date' (see what I did there?) they need to be degraded to prevent them causing trouble and allow their components to be reused.

Autopahgy in action!

 The above fluorescence micrograph shows the process of autophagy in appealing detail. What we're looking at is a cell mid-division that has been starved of amino acids. The cell quickly reacts by forming small bubbles or 'autophagosomes' around non-essential components. These vacuoles are then filled with chemicals which break down the proteins and release much needed amino acids back into the cell. The cells 'cytoskeleton' (the scaffhold by which the cell moves, retains shape and transports components) is stained pink, the nucleus green, and the autophagosomes red.

When autophagy goes wrong.

Breakdown in autophagy has been implicated in a massive range of diseases, most notably Alzheimers Disease and Parkinsons.

In alzheimers disease, autophagy fails to degrade by-products of protein production. These small 'waste' fragments of protein build up in the neurones and form aggregates or 'plaques' which then interfear with cellular mechanisms and cause cell death. This depletion of neurones gives rise to disease symptoms.

Autophagy may also play a key role in the longevity of healthy individuals and in the ageing process itself!

 My research project

The title of my project is:  'Effects of hydrogen sulphide on autophagy: a tissue culture study'
We'll be looking at how the chemical, Hydrogen Sulphide, effects the rate at which autophagy takes place. Prior research has shown that a similar molecular gas, nitric oxide downregulates autophagy. Specifically we'll be investigating how two enzymes (CBS and CSE) which produce hydrogen sulphide in cells, react with and regulate the process, if at all.

If hydrogen sulphide is shown to have effects on autophagy, it would increase our understanding of how the process works in healthy individuals and fails in those with related diseases, possibly leading to better treatments.

Hope that shed some light on what I'll be getting up to over the next eight weeks! Now for one final cup of coffee before making my way to the lab. . .