Method for monitoring pexophagy in mammalian cells.

The abundance of peroxisomes within a cell is rapidly controlled depending on environmental changes and physiological conditions. It is well established that phthalate esters can cause a marked proliferation of peroxisomes (Yokota, 1986). Following induction of peroxisomes by a 2-week treatment with phthalate esters in mouse livers, peroxisomal degradation via autophagy can be induced for the subsequent week after discontinuation of the phthalate esters. Autophagic degradation of peroxisomes can be monitored by electron microscopy as well as biochemical assay for some peroxisome markers. Although most of the excess peroxisomes in the liver are selectively degraded within one week, this rapid removal is exclusively impaired in the autophagy-deficient liver.