• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Choose which site to search.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Logo University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
College of Medicine: Department of Biomedical Informatics
  • UAMS Health
  • Jobs
  • Giving
  • About Us
    • Employment
    • Access, Opportunity, and Advocacy
      • About DBMI-AOA
      • Current DBMI-AOA Committee Members
      • DBMI-AOA Resources
      • DBMI-AOA Committee Events
    • Links
    • News
    • Department Intranet
  • Faculty & Staff
    • Primary Faculty
    • Secondary Faculty
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Staff
  • Education
    • Admission Information
    • Clinical Informatics Fellowship
      • Fellowship Overview
      • Training Sites
      • Faculty
      • Current Fellows
      • Welcome to Little Rock!
    • Graduate Programs
    • Current Course Offerings
    • DBMI FAQs
    • Research & Application Seminar
    • Recorded Sessions for CME Credit
    • Student Funding Opportunities
    • Graduate Students
  • Cores and Shared Resources
    • Arkansas Clinical Data Repository (AR-CDR)
    • Bioinformatics Collaborative Resource Center
    • INBRE
      • INBRE Bioinformatics Core Support Request Form
  • Research
    • Databases
    • Research Labs
      • Biomedical Ontologies Arkansas (BOAR)
    • Publications
  • Artificial Intelligence for Health
  1. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  2. College of Medicine
  3. Department of Biomedical Informatics
  4. News
  5. The effect of aging on the autophagic and heat shock response in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

The effect of aging on the autophagic and heat shock response in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

McCormick JJ1, VanDusseldorp TA1,2, Ulrich CG1, Lanphere RL3, Dokladny K4, Mosely PL5, Mermier CM1.

Abstract

Autophagy is a lysosome degradation pathway through which damaged organelles and macromolecules are degraded within the cell. A decrease in activity of the autophagic process has been linked to several age-associated pathologies, including triglyceride accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, muscle degeneration, and cardiac malfunction. Here, we examined the differences in the autophagic response using autophagy-inducer rapamycin (Rapa) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from young (21.8 ± 1.9 years) and old (64.0 ± 3.7 years) individuals. Furthermore, we tested the interplay between the heat shock response and autophagy systems. Our results showed a significant increase in LC3-II protein expression in response to Rapa treatment in young but not in old individuals. This was associated with a decreased response in MAP1LC3B mRNA levels, but not SQSTM1/p62. Furthermore, HSPA1A mRNA was upregulated only in young individuals, despite no differences in HSP70 protein expression. The combined findings suggest a suppressed autophagic response following Rapa treatment in older individuals.

PMID: 30269563 | DOI: 10.1556/2060.105.2018.3.20

Posted by Chris Lesher on September 1, 2018

Filed Under: Publications Tagged With: aging, autophagy, HSP, PBMC, rapamycin

UAMS College of Medicine LogoUAMS College of MedicineUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Mailing Address: 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 686-7000
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement

© 2025 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences