Autophagy is a ubiquitous and fundamental catabolic vital process for maintaining cellular homeostasis, achieved by degrading and recycling cytoplasmic components, particularly under conditions of nutrient deprivation or metabolic stress. This mechanism is also integral to the selective clearance of misfolded or aggregated proteins, the removal of dysfunctional organelles (such as mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum), and the intracellular degradation of pathogens, including those associated with peroxisomes. In this study, we screened and identified sesamin, a bioactive compound isolated from Hypericum hookerianum extracts, as a novel autophagy activator. Our results demonstrated that sesamin effectively induces autophagy and activates the lysosome biogenesis pathway.

Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. Cell culture
    2. Autophagy screening method
    3. Acridine orange staining
    4. Lysosome pH measurement
    5. Immunoblot analysis
    6. Data analysis
Results
    1. Identification of sesamin- an autophagy activatorfrom H. hookerianum
    2. Sesamin activates autophagy and autophagic flux
    3. Sesamin activates lysosome biogenesis
    4. Sesamin shows autophagic neuroprotection againstoxidative stress
Discussion
Funding
Acknowledgements
Conflicts of Interest
Supplementary Data
References

• Qui Ngoc Sang Nguyen(Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Gangneung 25451, Republic of Korea, College of Dentistry, Gangneung Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, Republic of Korea)
• Heesu Lee(College of Dentistry, Gangneung Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, Republic of Korea)
• Jae Wook Lee(Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Gangneung 25451, Republic of Korea, Natural Product Apply Science, KIST School, University of Science and Technology, Gangneung 25451, Republic of Korea) Corresponding author