Cited by 27Autophagy in Disease and TherapyCalcium signaling and nucleotide metabolismCellular transport and secretion

HEPES Activates a MiT/TFE-dependent Lysosomal-Autophagic Gene Network in Cultured Cells: A Call for Caution

Open access
Tol, Marc J., van der Lienden, Martijn J.C., Gabriel, Tanit L., Hagen, Jacob J., Scheij, Saskia, Veenendaal, Tineke, Klumperman, Judith, Donker-Koopman, Wilma E. +5 more·2018·Autophagy

Abstract

In recent years, the lysosome has emerged as a highly dynamic, transcriptionally regulated organelle that is integral to nutrient-sensing and metabolic rewiring. This is coordinated by a lysosome-to-nucleus signaling nexus in which MTORC1 controls the subcellular distribution of the microphthalmia-transcription factor E (MiT/TFE) family of "master lysosomal regulators". Yet, despite the importance of the lysosome in cellular metabolism, the impact of traditional in vitro culture media on lysosomal dynamics and/or MiT/TFE localization has not been fully appreciated. Here, we identify HEPES, a chemical buffering agent that is broadly applied in cell culture, as a potent inducer of lysosome biogenesis. Supplementation of HEPES to cell growth media is sufficient to decouple the MiT/TFE family members-TFEB, TFE3 and MITF-from regulatory mechanisms that control their cytosolic retention. Increased MiT/TFE nuclear import in turn drives the expression of a global network of lysosomal-autophagic and innate host-immune response genes, altering lysosomal dynamics, proteolytic capacity, autophagic flux, and inflammatory signaling. In addition, siRNA-mediated MiT/TFE knockdown effectively blunted HEPES-induced lysosome biogenesis and gene expression profiles. Mechanistically, we show that MiT/TFE activation in response to HEPES requires its macropinocytic ingestion and aberrant lysosomal storage/pH, but is independent of MTORC1 signaling. Altogether, our data underscore the cautionary use of chemical buffering agents in cell culture media due to their potentially confounding effects on experimental results.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/15548627.2017.1419118

Cites

65 of 65 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • HEPES activated lysosomal transcription factors in macrophages, inhibited the prion protein conversion in neural stem cells and affected their viability and differentiation.

    “Briefly, HEPES activated lysosomal transcription factors in macrophages (Tol et al., 2018), inhibited the prion protein conversion in neural stem cells and affected their viability and differentiation (Delmouly et al., 2011).”

    From Toward Best Practices for Controlling Mammalian Cell Culture Environments (2022) · cites this paper as Tol et al., 2018

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 66 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tol, M. J., van der Lienden, M. J. C., Gabriel, T. L., Hagen, J. J., Scheij, S., Veenendaal, T., Klumperman, J., Donker-Koopman, W. E., Verhoeven, A. J., Overkleeft, H., Aerts, J. M., Argmann, C. A., & van Eijk, M.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, The Netherlands
  • Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
  • Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Amsterdam, Academic Medical Centre, The Netherlands
  • Leiden University (NL)
Venue
Autophagy
Published
2018-02-17
Volume
14
Issue
3
Pages
437-449
ISSN
  • 1554-8627 (ISSN-L)
  • 1554-8635
OpenAlex
W2794029136
Cited by
27
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 6 · 2018: 3
FWCI
2.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • Autophagy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Figshare (cc-by)
Funders
Dutch Diabetes Foundation (2014.00.1758)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Physiology › Calcium signaling and nucleotide metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular transport and secretion
Keywords
HEPES, TFEB, TFE3, MITF, lysosomal biogenesis, mTORC1, macropinocytosis, lysosomal pH, lysosomal storage, innate immune response, transcriptional regulation
MeSH terms
Autophagy, Cell Line, HEPES, Humans, Lysosomes, Signal Transduction, Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors, Gene Regulatory Networks

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review