Regulation and Functions of Autophagy During Animal Development

Autophagy is used to degrade cytoplasmic materials, and is critical to maintain cell and organismal health in diverse animals. Here we discuss the regulation, utilization and impact of autophagy on development, including roles in oogenesis, spermatogenesis and embryogenesis in animals. We also describe how autophagy influences postembryonic development in the context of neuronal and cardiac development, wound healing, and tissue regeneration. We describe recent studies of selective autophagy during development, including mitochondria-selective autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-selective autophagy. Studies of developing model systems have also been used to discover novel regulators of autophagy, and we explain how studies of autophagy in these physiologically relevant systems are advancing our understanding of this important catabolic process.