Abstract
Autophagy is a process of cellular self-degradation and is a major pathway for elimination of cytoplasmic material by the lysosomes. Autophagy is responsible for the degradation of damaged organelles and protein aggregates and therefore plays a significant role in cellular homeostasis. Despite the initial belief that autophagy is a nonselective bulk process, there is growing evidence during the last years that sequestration and degradation of cellular material by autophagy can be accomplished in a selective and specific manner. Given the role of autophagy and selective autophagy in several disease related processes such as tumorigenesis, neurodegeneration and infections, it is very important to dissect the molecular mechanisms of selective autophagy, in the context of the system and the organism. An excellent genetically tractable model organism to study autophagy is Drosophila, which appears to have a highly conserved autophagic machinery compared with mammals. However, the mechanisms of selective autophagy in Drosophila have been largely unexplored. The aim of this review is to summarize recent discoveries about the selectivity of autophagy in Drosophila.
Highlights
Autophagy [derived from the Greek words auto- and phagy-] is an evolutionarily conserved process where the cells degrade their own cellular material
In the first report we have studied the role of autophagy during oogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster [11]
Using transgenic flies expressing a tandem GFP-mCherry-DrAtg8a transgene and ultrastructural analysis, we have found that autophagy occurs during nurse cell death during the developmental stages 12 and 13 of egg chamber development [11]
Summary
Autophagy [derived from the Greek words auto- (self) and phagy- (eating)] is an evolutionarily conserved process where the cells degrade their own cellular material. There is sequestration of cellular material into double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes. The autophagosomes and/or amphisomes are subsequently fused with the lysosomes where the sequestered cargoes are degraded by lysosomal hydrolases. In order to achieve this, it is critical to study the molecular and cellular pathways of selective autophagy in the context of the cell and the system by using living model organisms. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent genetically tractable model organism for investigating selective autophagy. The mechanisms of selective autophagy in Drosophila have been largely unexplored. This review will summarize the current knowledge about selective autophagy in Drosophila
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