Cells 2016, 5(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells5020024
Advances in Autophagy Regulatory Mechanisms
Strathclyde Institute for Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland G4 0RE, UK
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Academic Editor: Anne Hamacher-Brady
Received: 16 January 2016 / Revised: 20 April 2016 / Accepted: 5 May 2016 / Published: 13 May 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autophagy)
Abstract
Autophagy plays a critical role in cell metabolism by degrading and recycling internal components when challenged with limited nutrients. This fundamental and conserved mechanism is based on a membrane trafficking pathway in which nascent autophagosomes engulf cytoplasmic cargo to form vesicles that transport their content to the lysosome for degradation. Based on this simple scheme, autophagy modulates cellular metabolism and cytoplasmic quality control to influence an unexpectedly wide range of normal mammalian physiology and pathophysiology. In this review, we summarise recent advancements in three broad areas of autophagy regulation. We discuss current models on how autophagosomes are initiated from endogenous membranes. We detail how the uncoordinated 51-like kinase (ULK) complex becomes activated downstream of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (MTORC1). Finally, we summarise the upstream signalling mechanisms that can sense amino acid availability leading to activation of MTORC1. View Full-TextKeywords:
autophagy; amino acids; ULK; MTOR; autophagosome; isolation membrane; Beclin 1; VPS34; ATG14L
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Gallagher, L.E.; Williamson, L.E.; Chan, E.Y.W. Advances in Autophagy Regulatory Mechanisms. Cells 2016, 5, 24.
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