Methods in renal research: Measurement of autophagic flux in the renal cortex ex vivo.

The role of autophagy in the kidney and many nephrological diseases has gained prominence in recent years. Much of this research has been focused on markers of autophagy that are static and reveal little about the state of this dynamic pathway. Other mechanistic investigations are limited to in vitro studies, that often provide circumstantial evidence of autophagic flux. Here we describe a method for measuring autophagic flux ex vivo that allows more direct observations to be made in situ regarding the state of autophagic flux within the renal cortex of a single animal.