Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Cell-Based Drug Screening for Inhibitors of Autophagy Related 4B Cysteine Peptidase
09:51

Cell-Based Drug Screening for Inhibitors of Autophagy Related 4B Cysteine Peptidase

Published on: June 30, 2023

Fighting disease by selective autophagy of aggregate-prone proteins

Helene Knaevelsrud1, Anne Simonsen

  • 1Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

FEBS Letters
|April 24, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Autophagy clears harmful protein aggregates linked to diseases like neurodegeneration. This process uses autophagy receptors to degrade these aggregates, offering therapeutic potential for protein aggregate disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Ubiquitinated protein aggregates are implicated in various human diseases, including neurodegenerative, liver, and muscle disorders.
  • These aggregates are often associated with the autophagy receptor p62.
  • The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) handles small proteins, while autophagy degrades larger structures like aggregates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the mechanisms by which autophagy clears aggregate-prone proteins.
  • To discuss the significance of this autophagic clearance in protein aggregate-associated diseases.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review focusing on autophagy, protein aggregation, and related diseases.
  • Analysis of the roles of autophagy receptors and posttranslational modifications in cargo degradation.

Main Results:

  • Autophagy is a key pathway for degrading large protein aggregates that the UPS cannot handle.
  • Autophagy receptors are essential for linking protein aggregates to the autophagic machinery.
  • Posttranslational modifications can enhance the clearance of aggregate-prone proteins by autophagy.

Conclusions:

  • Autophagy plays a critical role in preventing the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates.
  • Understanding autophagic clearance mechanisms is crucial for developing therapeutic strategies for protein aggregate diseases.

More Related Videos

Evaluation of LC3-II Release via Extracellular Vesicles in Relation to the Accumulation of Intracellular LC3-positive Vesicles06:58

Evaluation of LC3-II Release via Extracellular Vesicles in Relation to the Accumulation of Intracellular LC3-positive Vesicles

Published on: October 18, 2024

Quantitative Analysis of Autophagy using Advanced 3D Fluorescence Microscopy09:59

Quantitative Analysis of Autophagy using Advanced 3D Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: May 3, 2013

Related Concept Videos

The Proteasome01:13

The Proteasome

Eukaryotic cells can degrade proteins through several pathways. One of the most important among these is the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. It helps the cell eliminate the misfolded, damaged, or unwarranted cytoplasmic proteins in a highly specific manner.
In this pathway, the target proteins are first tagged with small proteins called ubiquitin. This involves participation of a series of enzymes including— E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme), E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme), and E3 (ubiquitin...
The Proteasome02:18

The Proteasome

Eukaryotic cells can degrade proteins through several pathways. One of the most important amongst these is the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. It helps the cell eliminate the misfolded, damaged, or unwarranted cytoplasmic proteins in a highly specific manner.
In this pathway, the target proteins are first tagged with small proteins called ubiquitin. A series of enzymes carry out the ubiquitination of the target proteins - E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme), E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme), and E3...
Autophagy01:27

Autophagy

Autophagy is a self-digesting process by which a cell protects itself from threats both within and outside the cell, ranging from abnormal proteins to invading bacteria. In this process, obsolete components of the cell and invading microbes are degraded by hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment of the lysosomal lumen.
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome01:36

Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome

Eukaryotic cells use different mechanisms to eliminate toxic waste obsolete and worn-out substances. Lysosomes play a pivotal role in this, and hence, these substances are carried to the lysosome from other parts of the cell and extracellular space through different pathways. The most elaborately studied pathways to the lysosome are the endocytic pathways.
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Cellular Injury V: Apoptosis and Autophagy01:22

Cellular Injury V: Apoptosis and Autophagy

Cells respond to damage and stress through highly coordinated processes that decide whether they survive or undergo controlled self-destruction. Two major pathways involved in this regulation are apoptosis, a type of programmed cell death, and autophagy, a survival mechanism that helps cells adapt to adverse conditions.ApoptosisApoptosis removes aged or injured cells to maintain tissue balance. During this process, the cell shrinks, chromatin condenses and fragments, and membrane-bound...
Lysosomal Hydrolases01:22

Lysosomal Hydrolases

Lysosomes are the site for the degradation of macromolecules and biological polymers released during membrane trafficking events such as secretory, endocytic, autophagic, and phagocytic pathways. The membrane-enclosed area of the lysosome, called the lumen, contains hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment. These acid hydrolases are functional at a pH between 4.5 and 5 and are involved in cellular processes such as cell signaling, energy metabolism, restoration of the plasma membrane,...