1. Neurodegenerative Diseases and Autophagy
- Author
-
FLEMING, ANGELEEN LOUISE, Vicinanza M., Renna M., Puri C., Ricketts T., Füllgrabe J., Lopez A., de Jager, S. M., Ashkenazi A., Pavel M., Licitra F., Caricasole A., Andrews S. P., Skidmore J., Rubinsztein D. C., Fleming, A., Vicinanza, M., Renna, M., Puri, C., Ricketts, T., Füllgrabe, J., Lopez, A., de Jager, S.M., Ashkenazi, A., Pavel, M., Licitra, F., Caricasole, A., Andrews, S.P., Skidmore, J., Rubinsztein, D.C., Wolfe M.S., Fleming, ANGELEEN LOUISE, Vicinanza, M., Renna, M., Puri, C., Ricketts, T., Füllgrabe, J., Lopez, A., De, Jager, S., M., Ashkenazi, A., Pavel, M., Licitra, F., Caricasole, A., Andrews, S. P., Skidmore, J., and Rubinsztein, D. C.
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Trafficking ,Autophagosome ,Autophagy ,Biology ,Protein aggregation ,Disease pathogenesis ,Lysosome ,Cell biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Downregulation and upregulation ,Signal transduction ,Neurodegeneration ,Flux (metabolism) ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Intracellular ,Therapeutic strategy - Abstract
Most neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the accumulation of aggregated proteins within neurons. These aggregate-prone proteins cause toxicity, a phenomenon that is further exacerbated when there is defective protein clearance. Autophagy is an intracellular clearance pathway that can clear these protein aggregates and has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in a variety of model systems. Here, we introduce the key components of the autophagy machinery and signaling pathways that control this process and discuss the evidence that autophagic flux may be impaired and therefore a contributing factor in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. Finally, we review the use of autophagy upregulation as a therapeutic strategy to treat neurodegenerative disorders.
- Published
- 2018