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The return of the nucleus: transcriptional and epigenetic control of autophagy

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 15, pages 65–74 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Autophagy is a conserved process by which cytoplasmic components are degraded by the lysosome. It is commonly seen as a cytoplasmic event and, until now, nuclear events were not considered of primary importance for this process. However, recent studies have unveiled a transcriptional and epigenetic network that regulates autophagy. The identification of tightly controlled transcription factors (such as TFEB and ZKSCAN3), microRNAs and histone marks (especially acetylated Lys16 of histone 4 (H4K16ac) and dimethylated H3K9 (H3K9me2)) associated with the autophagic process offers an attractive conceptual framework to understand the short-term transcriptional response and potential long-term responses to autophagy.

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Figure 1: Autophagy regulates the biogenesis of miRNAs, which in turn control the expression of core autophagy proteins.
Figure 2: Histone post-translational modifications contribute to the control of autophagy flux.

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Acknowledgements

J.F. is supported by a fellowship from the Karolinska Institute Foundation. Work in the author laboratory was supported by a US National Institute of Health (NIH) grant GM53396 (to D.J.K.), the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation and the Swedish Research Council (to B.J.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology Pathology, Cancer Centrum Karolinska, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17176, Sweden

    Jens Füllgrabe & Bertrand Joseph

  2. Life Sciences Institute and Departments of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Daniel J. Klionsky

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  1. Jens Füllgrabe
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Correspondence to Bertrand Joseph.

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Füllgrabe, J., Klionsky, D. & Joseph, B. The return of the nucleus: transcriptional and epigenetic control of autophagy. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 15, 65–74 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3716

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