Autophagy

Autophagy is a cellular degradation and recycling process that delivers cytoplasmic material to lysosomes for breakdown. It helps cells maintain internal balance and adapt to stress.

Phagophore: A growing isolation membrane that surrounds cytoplasmic material during macroautophagy. It expands around cargo to form the autophagosome.
Macroautophagy: A form of autophagy that sequesters cargo in double-membrane autophagosomes. This is the best-studied pathway and the process most often meant by autophagy.
Mitophagy: The selective autophagic removal of damaged or surplus mitochondria. It shows how autophagy can target a specific organelle rather than bulk cytoplasm.
Christian de Duve: A Belgian cytologist who discovered lysosomes and introduced the term autophagy. His lysosome research provided the framework for naming intracellular self-digestion.
Selective autophagy: Autophagy that targets particular cellular components through cargo-recognition mechanisms. How cells choose among diverse cargoes remains central to understanding pathway specificity.
Autophagosome: A double-membrane vesicle that carries cytoplasmic cargo during macroautophagy. It encloses cargo before fusion with a lysosome.
Microautophagy: A form of autophagy in which lysosomes directly engulf portions of cytoplasm. It delivers material to lysosomes without a separate autophagosome.
Xenophagy: The selective autophagic capture and degradation of pathogens or pathogen-containing compartments. It uses autophagic machinery to help cells restrict intracellular infection.
Yoshinori Ohsumi: A Japanese cell biologist whose yeast studies identified genes essential for autophagy. His experiments revealed core genetic machinery behind the process.
Autophagy and aging: The relationship between autophagic activity and biological aging. Researchers investigate whether sustaining autophagy can preserve tissue function as organisms age.

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