Monitoring and assessment of lysosomal membrane damage in cultured cells using the high-content imager

Autophagy is an intracellular self-degradation process in which part of the cytoplasm, aggregates, or damaged organelles are degraded in lysosomes. Lysophagy is a specific form of selective autophagy responsible for clearing damaged lysosomes. Here, we present a protocol for inducing lysosomal damage in cultured cells and assessing lysosomal damage using a high-content imager and software program. We describe steps for induction of lysosomal damage, image acquisition with spinning disk confocal microscopy, and image analysis using Pathfinder. We then detail data analysis of the clearance of damaged lysosomes. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Teranishi et al. (2022).(1)