Quality control of proteins and organelles by autophagy

Abstract

Macroautophagy is one of the major degradation pathways in the cell. In autophagy, intracellular components are sequestered by autophagosomes and then degraded upon fusion with lysosomes. Genetic analyses of autophagy in mammals have revealed that autophagy is important not only for an adaptive response to starvation but also for quality control of intracellular proteins and organelles. These roles of autophagy are tightly connected to various physiological and pathological processes such as neurodegeneration and tumorigenesis.