Autophagy
From MyWiki
- 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.