Affiliation:
1. Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 565-0871 Osaka, Japan
2. Laboratory of Intracellular Membrane Dynamics, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, 565-0871 Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Macroautophagy (autophagy) is a highly conserved intracellular degradation system that is essential for homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. Due to the wide variety of the cytoplasmic targets of autophagy, its dysregulation is associated with many diseases in humans, such as neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease and cancer. During autophagy, cytoplasmic materials are sequestered by the autophagosome – a double-membraned structure – and transported to the lysosome for digestion. The specific stages of autophagy are induction, formation of the isolation membrane (phagophore), formation and maturation of the autophagosome and, finally, fusion with a late endosome or lysosome. Although there are significant insights into each of these steps, the mechanisms of autophagosome–lysosome fusion are least understood, although there have been several recent advances. In this Commentary, we will summarize the current knowledge regarding autophagosome–lysosome fusion, focusing on mammals, and discuss the remaining questions and future directions of the field.
Funder
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
MSD Life Science Foundation
Kishimoto Foundation
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Cited by
371 articles.
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