Autophagic (type II) cell death seen as a the substantial accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in the cytoplasm of cells continues to be suggested to try out pathogenetic tasks in cerebral ischemia mind trauma and neurodegenerative disorders. marker) using immunofluorescence and western blot analysis. Here we demonstrate that MDMA exposure induced monodansylcadaverine (MDC)- and LC3B-densely stained autophagosome formation and increased conversion of LC3B-I to LC3B-II coinciding with the neurodegenerative phase of MDMA challenge. Autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) pretreatment significantly attenuated MDMA-induced autophagosome accumulation LC3B-II expression and ameliorated MDMA-triggered neurite damage and neuronal death. In contrast enhanced autophagy flux by rapamycin or impaired autophagosome clearance by bafilomycin A1 led to more autophagosome accumulation in neurons and aggravated neurite degeneration indicating that excessive autophagosome accumulation contributes to MDMA-induced neurotoxicity. Furthermore MDMA induced phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its downstream unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) suggesting the AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway might be involved in MDMA-induced autophagy activation. Introduction Macroautophagy (henceforth referred to as autophagy) is a highly conserved cellular catabolic process whereby organelles and soluble and aggregated cellular components are enveloped in double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes which eventually fuse with lysosomes leading to the degradation and reuse of the vesicular contents [1]-[5]. Autophagy occurs constitutively at a basal level in all eukaryotic cells and operates as a homeostatic mechanism [6]. In this role autophagy removes unwanted cellular structures by the degradation of excess or Mitotane damaged organelles and proteins and thereby contributes to the routine turnover of cytoplasmic components [7]. In addition autophagy can be activated in response to various cellular and environmental stress conditions (e.g. starvation oxidative stress) to promote cell survival or to act as a mode of cell death (e.g. cerebral ischemia) [4] [8] [9]. Autophagic cell death (also called type II programmed cell death) is characterized by the massive accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in the cytoplasm of cells as they die [9] [10]. Defective autophagy has been connected to many human diseases including cancer myopathies and neurodegenerative diseases such Mitotane as Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [5] [11] [12]. Autophagy involves several steps and is regulated by a large number of autophagy-related genes (Atg) that are conserved from yeast to humans [13]; so far more than 30 have been found. The steps include (i) induction which involves formation of the phagophore a double-membrane structure and is largely dependent on Atg1/unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) complex activation mediated by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and other factors Mitotane that lead to the dephosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) [14]; (ii) nucleation which is driven by Vps34 a class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) complexed with beclin-1 (Atg6) [4]; (iii) elongation which is a critical step in the formation of complete autophagosomes and is managed by two ubiquitin-like conjugation systems (Atg12-Atg5 and Atg8 [microtubule-associated proteins 1 light string 3 LC3]-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugated towards the nascent autophagosome membrane) [7]; and lastly (iv) maturation and degradation which involve fusion with lysosomes to create autolysosomes and degradation from the luminal material [7] [10] [15]. 3 4 Mitotane (MDMA or Ecstasy) is among the most well-known recreational medicines abused by FLB7527 children [16]. Accumulating evidence shows that long-term MDMA misuse can be connected with cognitive mood and impairments disturbances [17] [18]. In the central anxious program (CNS) MDMA can be poisonous to both serotonergic neurons as well as the dopaminergic program [19] [20]. Furthermore MDMA is toxic to mind areas like the cerebral cortex striatum and thalamus [18] Mitotane [21]. Oxidative stress excitotoxicity mitochondrial necrosis and dysfunction have already been implicated in MDMA-induced neurotoxicity [22]. MDMA also induces apoptosis (type I designed cell loss of life) by raising the expression from the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and inhibition from the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 [23]. A earlier study reported how the transcript expression degree of Atg5 can be raised in mouse embryo and Mitotane neuroblastoma cells after MDMA treatment [24]. Nevertheless the pathophysiological part of.