58 5.4: Inhibited Autophagic Flux
Overview
The serious and harmful consequences of electronic cigarettes on human health has been discussed and established as scientifically relevant in this study. The following sections will seek to explain the underlying mechanisms involved in the process.
Effects on Neural Stem Cells
The autophagosomes of neural stem cells treated with electronic cigarette fluid and aerosols have increased GFP fluorescence and therefore are much larger compared to untreated control groups. This is indicative of increased autophagosome pH (Zahedi et al., 2019). The autolysosome-targeted pHluorein-LAMP1 reporter co-localizes in the treatment group. This shows that the increased pH is maintained in autolysosomes resulting in reduced degradation, increased autophagic load, and inhibited autophagic flux (Zahedi et al., 2019).
Key Takeaways
- E-liquid and aerosol treatment groups increase autophagosome pH
- This leads to reduced degradation and inhibited autophagic flux