Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Aug;263(1):55-72.
doi: 10.1023/B:MCBI.0000041848.57020.57.

Autophagy: Many paths to the same end

Ana Maria Cuervo  1
Affiliations

Autophagy: Many paths to the same end

Ana Maria Cuervo. Mol Cell Biochem. 2004 Aug.

Abstract

Different mechanisms lead to the degradation of intracellular proteins in the lysosomal compartment. Activation of one autophagic pathway or another, under specific cellular conditions, plays an important role in the ability of the cell to adapt to environmental changes. Each form of autophagy has its own individual characteristics, but it also shares common steps and components with the others. This interdependence of the autophagic pathways confers to the lysosomal system, both specificity and flexibility on substrate degradation. We describe in this review some of the recent findings on the molecular basis and regulation for each of the different autophagic pathways. We also discuss the cellular consequences of their interdependent function. Malfunctioning of the autophagic systems has dramatic consequences, especially in non-dividing differentiated cells. Using the heart as an example of such cells, we analyze the relevance of autophagy in aging and cell death, as well as in different pathological conditions. (Mol Cell Biochem 263: 55-72, 2004).

Keywords: aging; cardiomyopathies; cathepsins; cellular death; lysosomes; protein targeting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. APMIS. 1998 Feb;106(2):265-76 - PubMed
    1. J Biol Chem. 2000 Aug 18;275(33):25840-9 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Biochem. 2002 Apr;269(8):1996-2002 - PubMed
    1. EMBO J. 1999 Oct 1;18(19):5234-41 - PubMed
    1. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1995 Oct 13;215(2):757-67 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources