The autophagy receptor p62/SQST-1 promotes proteostasis and longevity in C. elegans by inducing autophagy

Abstract

Autophagy can degrade cargos with the help of selective autophagy receptors such as p62/SQSTM1, which facilitates the degradation of ubiquitinated cargo. While the process of autophagy has been linked to aging, the impact of selective autophagy in lifespan regulation remains unclear. We have recently shown in Caenorhabditis elegans that transcript levels of sqst-1/p62 increase upon a hormetic heat shock, suggesting a role of SQST-1/p62 in stress response and aging. Here, we find that sqst-1/p62 is required for hormetic benefits of heat shock, including longevity, improved neuronal proteostasis, and autophagy induction. Furthermore, overexpression of SQST-1/p62 is sufficient to induce autophagy in distinct tissues, extend lifespan, and improve the fitness of mutants with defects in proteostasis in an autophagy-dependent manner. Collectively, these findings illustrate that increased expression of a selective autophagy receptor is sufficient to induce autophagy, enhance proteostasis and extend longevity, and demonstrate an important role for sqst-1/p62 in proteotoxic stress responses.

A Review of ULK1-Mediated Autophagy in Drug Resistance of Cancer

“…Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) is a cytoplasmic kinase that is important to the process of autophagy. It is a homologue of ATG1 gene in mammals, with a total similarity of 29% [22,23]. It has been shown that ULK1 can either promote or inhibit tumor growth through protein-protein interactions and post-translational modification-mediated autophagy in nutrient-deficient environments [24].…”

FAK Inhibition Induces Glioblastoma Cell Senescence-Like State through p62 and p27

“…Our results, therefore, indicate that p62 downregulation is associated with senescent phenotypes. In fact, p62 has recently been associated with longevity and its absence to aging in C. elegans [25]. We propose that FAK inhibition may be a valid strategy to counteract GBM progression through senescence deregulation.…”

Homeoprotein ENGRAILED-1 promotes motoneuron survival and motor functions

“…Strikingly, the bioinformatic analysis led to a list of only 20 genes that interact with genes mutated in fALS. One of them, SQSTM1/p62, a known regulator of autophagy (28), associates with the four fALS genes included in our analysis and is up-regulated in 4.5-month-old En1-Het mice injected at 3 months with an inactive form of EN1, but is normal in En1-Het mice injected with active EN1. The ensuing hypothesis that En1 may interact with fALS genes will be evaluated by generating double heterozygotes for En1 and fALS genes.…”

“…However, although they may exist in some sporadic cases, no ALS phenotype has been associated with mutations affecting EN1 expression, precluding that the En1-Het mouse be considered as an ALS model. Yet, En1 might interact genetically with pathways leading to ALS, and EN1 could be envisaged as a long-lasting therapeutic protein, as shown in classical mouse and non-human primate models of Parkinson Disease (28).…”