title: Autophagy in Drosophila: from historical studies to current knowledge.
abstract: The discovery of evolutionarily conserved Atg genes required for autophagy in yeast truly revolutionized this research field and made it possible to carry out functional studies on model organisms. Insects including Drosophila are classical and still popular models to study autophagy, starting from the 1960s. This review aims to summarize past achievements and our current knowledge about the role and regulation of autophagy in Drosophila, with an outlook to yeast and mammals. The basic mechanisms of autophagy in fruit fly cells appear to be quite similar to other eukaryotes, and the role that this lysosomal self-degradation process plays in Drosophila models of various diseases already made it possible to recognize certain aspects of human pathologies. Future studies in this complete animal hold great promise for the better understanding of such processes and may also help finding new research avenues for the treatment of disorders with misregulated autophagy.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Nitha C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Mulakkal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takats
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Radu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tusco
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Juhász
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Ioannis P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Nezis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics*; D000071189:Autophagy-Related Protein-1 Homolog; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D008322:Mammals; D005810:Multigene Family; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D059748:Proteolysis
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C518074:Atg1 protein, Drosophila; D000071189:Autophagy-Related Protein-1 Homolog; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases