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

Ferroelectric fatigue in layered perovskites from self-energy corrected density functional theory

We employed self-energy corrected density functional theory (GGA-1/2) to investigate the band alignment between platinum and the layered perovskite Aurivillius ferroelectrics SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT), Bi4Ti3O12 (BIT), and La-substituted BIT (BLT). The original GGA-1/2 method was found to not give satisfactory band gaps for these layered materials, despite yielding substantially better band gaps than GGA. We show that in such layered materials the cutoff radius for the self-energy potential in GGA-1/2 is strongly inhomogeneous across layers, therefore requiring different cutoff radii assigned to oxygen anions located in bismuth oxide layers and in pseudo-perovskite layers. After a 2D optimization of the oxygen cutoff radii, the calculated band gaps for these materials were found within 0.3 eV of experimental values. Next, we developed stoichiometric interface models for Pt/SBT and Pt/BIT, assuming platinum was connected to bismuth oxide layers as suggested by experiments. The calculated Schottky (hole) barriers for abrupt interfaces are 1.58 eV (2.50 eV) and 2.06 eV (1.41 eV) for SBT and BIT, respectively. For Pt(Bi) alloyed interfaces, where according to experiments some Bi diffuses inside the metal, we calculated a downshift of the Fermi level, lowering the barrier for holes. Because the barrier height for holes is lower in Pt/BIT than in Pt/SBT, a higher space-charge-limited-conduction hole current is expected to leak through metal alloyed Pt(Bi)/BIT/Pt(Bi) capacitors than to the corresponding SBT capacitors. Finally, replacing some Bi in the pseudo-perovskite layers with La significantly increased the barrier for holes. Based on the results above, we propose a phenomenological model for ferroelectric fatigue in Pt/BIT/Pt, whereby the formation of a non-ferroelectric Bi-deficient phase is the main reason for fatigue, which is accelerated by the lowered barrier for holes promoting the accumulation of Bi vacancies. The fatiguefree nature of Pt/SBT/Pt and Pt/BLT/Pt, on the other hand, stems from large barriers for both electrons and holes, which prevent the neutralization and further accumulation of charged defects. Our conclusions are consistent with the available experimental data7352185621868CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQsem informaçã