Autophagy-induced senescence is regulated by p38α signaling.
Konstantin SlobodnyukNevenka RadicSaška IvanovaAnna LladoNatalia TrempolecAntonio ZorzanoAngel R NebredaPublished in: Cell death & disease (2019)
Apoptosis and senescence are two mutually exclusive cell fate programs that can be activated by stress. The factors that instruct cells to enter into senescence or apoptosis are not fully understood, but both programs can be regulated by the stress kinase p38α. Using an inducible system that specifically activates this pathway, we show that sustained p38α activation suffices to trigger massive autophagosome formation and to enhance the basal autophagic flux. This requires the concurrent effect of increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and the phosphorylation of the ULK1 kinase on Ser-555 by p38α. Moreover, we demonstrate that macroautophagy induction by p38α signaling determines that cancer cells preferentially enter senescence instead of undergoing apoptosis. In agreement with these results, we present evidence that the induction of autophagy by p38α protects cancer cells from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis by promoting senescence. Our results identify a new mechanism of p38α-regulated basal autophagy that controls the fate of cancer cells in response to stress.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- oxidative stress
- stress induced
- dna damage
- cell death
- cell cycle arrest
- endothelial cells
- diabetic rats
- signaling pathway
- reactive oxygen species
- cell fate
- high glucose
- public health
- protein kinase
- squamous cell carcinoma
- radiation therapy
- tyrosine kinase
- heat stress
- drug induced
- cell proliferation