Construct · 1 fields · 3 citations

autophagy: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaningendosymbiosiscompare the meanings
How to read this

Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to autophagy is endosymbiosis.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

autophagy1 CONSTRUCTAutophagyDE DUVE · SELF-EATING

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Cell biology

The regulated breakdown and recycling of a cell's own components

Christian de Duve, the discoverer of the lysosome, coined the term autophagy in 1963 (from the Greek for self-eating) and, with Robert Wattiaux, set out its role in their 1966 review of lysosome function: the process by which a cell delivers portions of its own cytoplasm, including worn or surplus proteins and whole organelles, to the lysosome, the cell's acidic recycling compartment, to be broken down into raw materials the cell can reuse. The mechanism remained poorly understood until Yoshinori Ohsumi's group demonstrated autophagy directly in baker's yeast in 1992 and then identified the first autophagy-related (ATG) genes in 1993, work that mapped the machinery and earned Ohsumi the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In macroautophagy, the best-studied form, a double-membraned sac called the autophagosome forms around the cargo and then fuses with the lysosome to digest it. What makes autophagy a landmark construct is its scope: it is the principal route for bulk turnover of the cell's own contents, conserved from yeast to humans, and it operates both as routine housekeeping and as a survival response to starvation, damage, and infection.[1][2][3]

Unit
A conserved cellular degradation pathway that sequesters and delivers a cell's own components to the lysosome or vacuole for breakdown
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Detected by tracking autophagosome markers such as LC3 lipidation on immunoblots and fluorescence microscopy, by autophagic flux assays using lysosomal inhibitors, and by electron microscopy of autophagosomes

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how autophagy sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this entry

Nearby constructs

apoptosis1 fields · 3 citationsanchor · a standalone constructhomeostasis3 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, three constructsbulk2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. de Duve, C., & Wattiaux, R. (1966). Functions of lysosomes. Annual Review of Physiology, 28, 435-492. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ph.28.030166.002251
  2. Takeshige, K., Baba, M., Tsuboi, S., Noda, T., & Ohsumi, Y. (1992). Autophagy in yeast demonstrated with proteinase-deficient mutants and conditions for its induction. The Journal of Cell Biology, 119(2), 301-311. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.119.2.301
  3. Tsukada, M., & Ohsumi, Y. (1993). Isolation and characterization of autophagy-defective mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEBS Letters, 333(1-2), 169-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-5793(93)80398-e

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct