[Role of cytoskeleton in autophagy]

Cell autophagy plays a key role in maintaining intracellular nutritional homeostasis during starvation through elimination of aberrant or obsolete cellular structures. The cellular cytoskeleton has a crucial role in multiple processes involving membrane rearrangements and vesicle-mediated events. Autophagy is mediated by both microtubules and actin networks: microtubules promote the synthesis of autophagosome and are related to the movement of autophagosome; actin networks have been implicated in structurally supporting the expanding of phagophore, moving autophagosomes and enabling their efficient fusion with the lysosome; non-muscle myosinⅡoperates in the early stages of autophagy during the initiation and expansion of the phagophore, whereas myosinⅥ and myosin 1C are involved in the late stages of autophagosome maturation and fusion with the lysosome, respectively. This review summarizes the multiple regulation of cytoskeleton on autophagy and focuses on the regulation of autophagy by actin and myosin, providing a new approach for the study of pathogenesis and innovative therapies of autophagy related diseases.