Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

In Situ Immunofluorescent Staining of Autophagy in Muscle Stem Cells
Published on: June 12, 2017
Neuronal autophagy: a housekeeper or a fighter in neuronal cell survival?
1Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Nanotechnology, Hannam University, Dajeon 305-811, Korea.
Abstract:
Neurons have highly dynamic cellular processes for their proper functions such as cell growth, synaptic formation, or synaptic plasticity by regulating protein synthesis and degradation. Therefore, the quality control of proteins in neurons is essential for their physiology and pathology. Autophagy is a cellular degradation pathway by which cytosolic components are sequestered in autophagosomes and degraded upon their fusion with lysosomal components. Thus, the autophagic pathway may play important roles in neuronal cell survival and neuronal function under physiological condition and pathological conditions. Recent several findings suggest that the loss of basal autophagy or imbalance of autophagic flux leads to neurodegeneration. Autophagosomes accumulate abnormally in affected neurons of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huntington's disease (HD), Parkinson's disease (PD), or Frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Thus, the understanding how autophagy is associated with several neurological diseases would be the first step for new therapeutic intervention in neurological disorders. In this review, I will discuss the molecular mechanism of autophagy in neurons and autophagy-associated neurodegenerative diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Cellular Injury V: Apoptosis and Autophagy
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and pro-apoptotic...
Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells
Normal cells contain receptors that prevent them from being recognized by phagocytes.
The Proteasome
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...

