Autophagy

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Key concepts in ALS

• Wikipedia page

Autophagy allows the orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components.

• In macroautophagy, targeted cytoplasmic constituents are isolated from the rest of the cell within a double-membraned vesicle known as an autophagosome.
• The autophagosome eventually fuses with lysosomes and the contents are degraded and recycled.
• Three forms of autophagy are also commonly described: macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA).
• In disease, autophagy has been seen as an adaptive response to stress, which promotes survival, whereas in other cases it appears to promote cell death and morbidity.
• In the extreme case of starvation, the breakdown of cellular components promotes cellular survival by maintaining cellular energy levels.