Spautin-1 Ameliorates Acute Pancreatitis via Inhibiting Impaired Autophagy and Alleviating Calcium Overload

Acute pancreatitis is characterized by zymogen preactivation. Severe inflammation caused by zymogen activation can eventually lead to multiple organ dysfunctions which contribute to the high mortality rate of severe acute pancreatitis. However, there is no specific treatment available for acute pancreatitis therapy. Here, we show that spautin-1, which effectively inhibits autophagy flux, ameliorated the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis induced by cerulein or L-arginine. CaMKII phosphorylation due to cytosolic calcium overload was revealed in this paper. It was also demonstrated that autophagic protein aggregates degradation blockade accompanied by impaired autophagy correlated positively with intra-acinar cell digestive aymogen activation stimulated by cerulein or L-arginine. The role of spautin-1 in ameliorating acute pancreatitis was shown here to be associated with impaired autophagy inhibition and Ca2+ overload alleviation. We provide a promising therapy for acute pancreatitis through targeting both impaired autophagy and increased cytosolic calcium.