Autophagy, measured as the sequestration of electroinjected [3H]raffinose or endogenous lactate dehydrogenase, was inhibited in isolated rat hepatocytes by the protein phosphatase inhibitors okadaic acid, calyculin A and microcystin-LR. Okadaic acid, the most potent inhibitor, suppressed autophagy almost completely at 15 nM, suggesting inhibition of a protein phosphatase of type 2A. Okadaic acid had no effect on ATP levels, protein synthesis or cellular viability at this concentration, but caused a disruption of the hepatocytic cytoskeleton and a consequent reduction in organelle sedimentability, potentially interfering with the autophagy assay unless the necessary precautions are taken. Lysosomal (propylamine-sensitive) degradation of endogenous protein was inhibited by okadaic acid, whereas non-lysosomal (propylamine-resistant) degradation was unaffected. The autophagy-inhibitory effect of okadaic acid was not affected by inhibitors of CAMP-dependent protein kinase or protein kinase C (H-7, H-89, calphostin C) but eliminated by the non-specific inhibitor K-252a and its analogues (KT-5720, KT-5823, KT-5926) and by KN-62, a specific inhibitor of Ca2+/ calmodulin-dependent protein lunase 11. Protein phosphorylation by this kinase would thus seem to play a role in regulation of the autophagic-lysosomal degradation pathway.Autophagy, an intracellular mechanism for the bulk degradation of cytoplasm, plays an important role in protein metabolism and growth control [ 1 -31. The stepwise nature of the process has been suggested by ultrastructural and biochemical studies. In the first step, autophagic sequestration, a portion of the cytoplasm is wrapped up by a membraneous organelle which eventually forms a closed autophagic vacuole, an autophagosome [4]. This vacuole then matures into, or delivers the autophagocytosed cytoplasm to a second autophagic vacuole, an amphisome, so called because it can also receive material from endocytosis [ 5 ] . The amphisome in turn delivers its contents to a lysosome for degradation [61.The biochemistry of autophagy is largely uncharted. Regulation of the process occurs mainly at the initial sequestration step, which is sensitive to various hormones, growth factors and metabolites [3, 71. In rat hepatocytes the rate of autophagic sequestration and the formation of autophago- somes is influenced by several agents known to transmit their effects through protein kinases, such as glucagon [8, 91, insulin [lo, 111, adrenergic agonists [12, 131 and cyclic nucleotides [14]. An involvement of protein phosphorylation in the biological control of autophagy would, therefore, seem likeIn the present study we have examined this possibility by treating isolated rat hepatocytes with okadaic acid and other protein phosphatase inhibitors. Okadaic acid is a toxin associated with diarrhetic seafood poisoning, first isolated from the marine sponge Hulichondria okudui [15]. Its mechanism of action is a specific inhibition of protein phosphatases 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A), two of the major phosphatases responsi...