Fig. 8: Surgical procedures suppress autophagic flux.
From: Surgical procedures suppress autophagic flux in the kidney
Sham surgery and unilateral nephrectomy (UNX) resulted in an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines in the serum. There was an increase in mTORC1/2 proteins and phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2) in the kidney in sham surgery and UNX. The increase in pERK1/2 resulted in an increase in p62. ERK1/2 potentially inhibited (dotted line) TFEB nuclear localization and the lysosomal defect seen in sham surgery and UNX. A systemic cytokine “storm”, a large increase in pERK1/2, a lysosomal defect and suppressed autophagic flux caused by sham surgery may confound the interpretation of results of autophagy studies using animal models requiring surgical procedures.
