Downregulation of O-GlcNAc transferase activity impairs basal autophagy and late endosome positioning under nutrient-rich conditions in human colon cells

Autophagy is a critical catabolic pathway that enables cells to survive and adapt to stressful conditions, especially nutrient deprivation. The fusion of autophagic vacuoles with lysosomes is the final step of Autophagy, which degrades the engulfed contents into metabolic precursors for re-use by the cell. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) plays a crucial role in regulating Autophagy flux in response to nutrient stress, particularly by targeting key proteins involved in autophagosome-lysosome fusion. However, the role of OGT in basal Autophagy, which occurs at a low and constitutive levels under growth conditions, remains poorly understood. Silencing or inhibition of OGT was used to compare the effect of OGT downregulation on Autophagy flux in the non-cancerous CCD841CoN and cancerous HCT116 human colon cell lines under nutrient-rich conditions. We provide evidence that the reduction of OGT activity impairs the maturation of autophagosomes, thereby blocking the completion of basal Autophagy in both cell lines. Additionally, OGT inhibition results in the accumulation of lysosomes and enlarged late endosomes in the perinuclear region, as demonstrated by confocal imaging. This is associated with a defect in the localization of the small GTPase Rab7 to these organelles. The regulation of transport and fusion events between the endosomal and lysosomal compartments is crucial for maintaining the autophagic flux. These findings suggest an interplay between OGT and the homeostasis of the endolysosomal network in human cells.

Basal autophagy; Colon cells; Late endosome; Lysosome positioning; O-GlcNAc transferase; Rab7.