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Updated: Nov 10, 2025

Modeling Age-Associated Neurodegenerative Diseases in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: August 15, 2020
Molecular Basis of Neuronal Autophagy in Ageing: Insights from Caenorhabditis elegans
Georgios Konstantinidis1, Nektarios Tavernarakis1,2
1Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece.
Abstract:
Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved degradation process maintaining cell homeostasis. Induction of autophagy is triggered as a response to a broad range of cellular stress conditions, such as nutrient deprivation, protein aggregation, organelle damage and pathogen invasion. Macroautophagy involves the sequestration of cytoplasmic contents in a double-membrane organelle referred to as the autophagosome with subsequent degradation of its contents upon delivery to lysosomes. Autophagy plays critical roles in development, maintenance and survival of distinct cell populations including neurons. Consequently, age-dependent decline in autophagy predisposes animals for age-related diseases including neurodegeneration and compromises healthspan and longevity. In this review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the role of neuronal autophagy in ageing, focusing on studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

