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Updated: May 1, 2026

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
Autophagosomes, phagosomes, autolysosomes, phagolysosomes, autophagolysosomes... wait, I'm confused
Daniel J Klionsky1, Eeva-Liisa Eskelinen2, Vojo Deretic3
1Life Sciences Institute; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
Abstract:
When an autophagosome or an amphisome fuse with a lysosome, the resulting compartment is referred to as an autolysosome. Some people writing papers on the topic of autophagy use the terms "autolysosome" and "autophagolysosome" interchangeably. We contend that these words should be used to denote 2 different compartments, and that it is worthwhile maintaining this distinction-the autophagolysosome has a particular origin in the process of xenophagy that makes it distinct from an autolysosome.
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