Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants

Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants (= Chenopodium ambrosioides L.) is an American aromatic species used as medicinal and culinary purposes since pre-Columbian times by Aztecs and Mayans in Mesoamerica (where is called epazote) and Andean communities and many others in South America (where is better known as paico). Currently, it is globally known by a wide diversity of cultures around the world, due to its cultivation and naturalization. Its uses are currently widespread in pluricultural contexts, by means the commercial circuits and mass media, especially the Internet. The main active constituents are essential oils, to which owes its aroma and flavor. It is toxic in high doses, but safe if is consumed in appropriated concentrations. The most widespread folk therapeutic use is as antiparasitic (anthelmintic, antimicrobial), and it is also employed against gastrointestinal disorders, as hypotensive, antipyretic, vulnerary, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, sedative and anxiolytic, among others, many of which have been evaluated scientifically. The researches on its anticancer activity are very promising.Fil: Hurrell, Julio Alberto. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Laboratorio de Etnobotánica y Botánica Aplicada; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin