Baehrecke EH (2002) Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol "How death shapes life during development."

Baehrecke EH

[Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 2002]

The formation of an adult animal from a fertilized embryo involves the production and death of cells. Surprisingly, many cells are produced during development with an ultimate fate of death, and defects in programmed cell death can result in developmental abnormalities. Recent studies indicate that cells can die by many different mechanisms, and these differences have implications for proper animal development and disorders such as cancer and autoimmunity.

Anding AL et al. (2015) Curr Top Dev Biol "Autophagy in Cell Life and Cell Death."

Anding AL, Baehrecke EH

[Curr Top Dev Biol, 2015]

Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a process used by the cell to deliver cytoplasmic components to the lysosome for degradation. Autophagy is most often associated with cell survival, as it provides cells with molecular building blocks during periods of nutrient deprivation and also aids in the elimination of damaged organelles and protein aggregates. However, autophagy has also been implicated in cell death. Here, we review what is known about autophagy, its regulation, its role both in cell life and cell death, and what is known about autophagic cell death in vivo.

Zhang H et al. (2015) Trends Cell Biol "Eaten alive: novel insights into autophagy from multicellular model systems."

Zhang H, Baehrecke EH

[Trends Cell Biol, 2015]

Autophagy delivers cytoplasmic material to lysosomes for degradation. First identified in yeast, the core genes that control this process are conserved in higher organisms. Studies of mammalian cell cultures have expanded our understanding of the core autophagy pathway, but cannot reveal the unique animal-specific mechanisms for the regulation and function of autophagy. Multicellular organisms have different types of cells that possess distinct composition, morphology, and organization of intracellular organelles. In addition, the autophagic machinery integrates signals from other cells and environmental conditions to maintain cell, tissue and organism homeostasis. Here, we highlight how studies of autophagy in flies and worms have identified novel core autophagy genes and mechanisms, and provided insight into the context-specific regulation and function of autophagy.

Grant BD et al. (2008) Traffic "Mechanisms of EHD/RME-1 protein function in endocytic transport."

Grant BD, Caplan S

[Traffic, 2008]

The evolutionarily conserved EHD/RME-1 family of C-terminal EH-domain proteins has recently come under intense scrutiny because of its importance in intracellular membrane transport, especially with regard to the recycling of receptors from endosomes to the plasma membrane. Recent studies have shed new light on the mode by which these ATPases function on endosomal membranes in mammals and C. elegans. This review highlights our current understanding of the physiological roles of these proteins in vivo, discussing conserved features as well as emerging functional differences between individual mammalian paralogs. In addition, these findings are discussed in light of the identification of novel EHD/RME-1 protein and lipid interactions, and new structural data for proteins in this family, indicating intriguing similarities to the Dynamin superfamily of large GTPases.

Galluzzi L et al. (2017) EMBO J "Molecular definitions of autophagy and related processes."

Munz C, Boya P, Santambrogio L, Debnath J, Melendez A, Galluzzi L, Jaattela M, Ballabio A, Simon HU, Gewirtz DA, Bravo-San Pedro JM, Harper JW, Murphy LO, Tavernarakis N, Chu CT, Kroemer G, Deretic V, Dikic I, Fulda S, Martens S, Cuervo AM, Reggiori F, Green DR, Kimmelman AC, Levine B, Cecconi F, Penninger JM, Johansen T, Piacentini M, Codogno P, Choi AM, Madeo F, Lopez-Otin C, Simon AK, Juhasz G, Colombo MI, Fimia GM, Martinez J, Kraft C, Ryan KM, Yue Z, Hansen M, Zhong Q, Mizushima N, Simonsen A, Baehrecke EH, Ktistakis NT, Rubinsztein DC, Scorrano L, Tooze SA, Yoshimori T, Eskelinen EL, Yuan J, Kumar S

[EMBO J, 2017]

Over the past two decades, the molecular machinery that underlies autophagic responses has been characterized with ever increasing precision in multiple model organisms. Moreover, it has become clear that autophagy and autophagy-related processes have profound implications for human pathophysiology. However, considerable confusion persists about the use of appropriate terms to indicate specific types of autophagy and some components of the autophagy machinery, which may have detrimental effects on the expansion of the field. Driven by the overt recognition of such a potential obstacle, a panel of leading experts in the field attempts here to define several autophagy-related terms based on specific biochemical features. The ultimate objective of this collaborative exchange is to formulate recommendations that facilitate the dissemination of knowledge within and outside the field of autophagy research.