Autophagy pathway: Cellular and molecular mechanisms

Macroautophagy/autophagy is an essential, conserved self-eating process that cells perform to allow degradation of intracellular components, including soluble proteins, aggregated proteins, organelles, macromolecular complexes, and foreign bodies. The process requires formation of a double-membrane structure containing the sequestered cytoplasmic material, the autophagosome, that ultimately fuses with the lysosome. This review will define this process and the cellular pathways required, from the formation of the double membrane to the fusion with lysosomes in molecular terms, and in particular highlight the recent progress in our understanding of this complex process.