Autophagy

Dear Colleagues,

Since the description of its molecular machinery began in the late 1990s, our understanding of autophagy, the process of intracellular (self-)digestion via lysosomes, has made an exceptional progress. Today, autophagy is recognized as an integral component of cellular physiology and pathophysiology. Autophagy has evolved from being regarded as a mechanism for the degradation of random cellular components to a heterogeneous and highly regulated process, capable of specificity. Through the degradation of a large variety of substrates, including proteins, protein aggregates, organelles, and intracellular pathogens, autophagy influences virtually all vital cellular functions and signaling pathways. Consequently, autophagy is intimately connected with cellular homeostasis and development and progression of diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, infection, and autoimmune disorders.

This Special Issue offers an Open Access forum that aims at bringing together a collection of original research and review articles addressing the expanding field of autophagy. To that end we are welcoming contributions which may cover molecular machinery, substrate specificity, regulation of autophagy and its crosstalk with essential cell signaling programs, in the context of the cell’s homeostatic and stress signaling.  We hope to provide a stimulating resource for the fascinating subject of autophagy.

Dr. Anne Hamacher-Brady
Dr. Nathan R. Brady
Guest Editors