Autophagy is a degradative mechanism involved in the recycling and turnover of cytoplasmic constituents from eukaryotic cells. This phenomenon of autophagy has been observed in neurons from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting a functional role for autophagy in neuronal cell death. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that exposure to pesticides can be a risk factor in the incidence of PD. In this sense, paraquat (PQ) (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium dichloride), a widely used herbicide that is structurally similar to the known dopaminergic neurotoxicant MPP(+) (1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridine), has been suggested as a potential etiologic factor for the development of PD. The current study shows, for the first time, that low concentrations of PQ induce several characteristics of autophagy in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. In this way, PQ induced the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles (AVs) in the cytoplasm and the recruitment of a LC3-GFP fusion protein to AVs. Furthermore, the cells treated with PQ showed an increase of the long-lived protein degradation which is blocked in the presence of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine and regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. Finally, the cells succumbed to cell death with hallmarks of apoptosis such as phosphatidylserine exposure, caspase activation, and chromatin condensation. While caspase inhibition retarded cell death, autophagy inhibition accelerated the apoptotic cell death induced by PQ. Altogether, these findings show the relationship between autophagy and apoptotic cell death in human neuroblastoma cells treated with PQ.

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-Canine leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in the Mediterranean area caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum, which usually produces renal failure. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot using antibodies to IgG and IgA from dogs were carried out in the urine of 22 dogs with leishmaniasis diagnosed by ELISA and confirmed by PCR, and 20 healthy dogs. The results were compared to renal function laboratory tests and to those from a histopathological study of the kidneys from sick animals that died naturally or were euthanized. Five different bands with molecular weights ranging from 10 to 110 kDa were obtained from the electrophoresis of the urine of healthy dogs. 33.5% of total proteins corresponded to low molecular weight proteins and the other proteins had middle and high molecular weights. However, in the group with leishmaniasis, a maximum of 11 different bands with molecular weights ranging from 10 kDa to 150 kDa were displayed in the electrophoresis of the urine. The urine electrophoretic pattern in the sick dogs was classified as mixed (proteins with high and low molecular weights) because low molecular weight proteins made up 57.9% and the rest of the proteins had middle and high molecular weights. In Western blot, none of the healthy dogs showed excretion of IgG and/or IgA, whereas IgG and IgA were detected in the Western blot of urine of 68% and 55% respectively of dogs with leishmaniasis. The results obtained in the leishmaniasis group agreed with glomerular and tubular damage, which were confirmed by the histopathological findings. leishmaniasis / proteinuria / dog / SDS-PAGE / Western blot

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