Lysosomes and autophagy in aquatic animals.

The lysosomal-autophagic system appears to be a common target for many environmental pollutants, as lysosomes accumulate many toxic metals and organic xenobiotics, which perturb normal function and damage the lysosomal membrane. In fact, autophagic reactions frequently involving reduced lysosomal membrane integrity or stability appear to be effective generic indicators of cellular well-being in eukaryotes: in social amoebae (slime mold), mollusks and fish, autophagy/membrane destabilization is correlated with many stress and toxicological responses and pathological reactions. Prognostic use of adverse lysosomal and autophagic reactions to environmental pollutants can be used for predicting cellular dysfunction and health in aquatic animals, such as shellfish and fish, which are extensively used as sensitive bioindicators in monitoring ecosystem health; and also represent a significant food resource for at least 20% of the global human population. Explanatory frameworks for prediction of pollutant impact on health have been derived encompassing a conceptual mechanistic model linking lysosomal damage and autophagic dysfunction with injury to cells and tissues. Methods are described for tracking in vivo autophagy of fluorescently labeled cytoplasmic proteins, measuring degradation of radiolabeled intracellular proteins and morphometric measurement of lysosomal/cytoplasmic volume ratio. Additional methods for the determination of lysosomal membrane stability in lower animals are also described, which can be applied to frozen tissue sections, protozoans and isolated cells in vivo. Experimental and simulated results have also indicated that nutritional deprivation (analogous in marine mussels to caloric restriction)-induced autophagy has a protective function against toxic effects mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Finally, coupled measurement of lysosomal-autophagic reactions and simulation modelling is proposed as a practical toolbox for predicting toxic environmental risk.