title: The Function of Autophagy in Neurodegenerative Diseases.
abstract: Macroautophagy, hereafter referred to as autophagy, is a bulk degradation process performed by lysosomes in which aggregated and altered proteins as well as dysfunctional organelles are decomposed. Autophagy is a basic cellular process that maintains homeostasis and is crucial for postmitotic neurons. Thus, impaired autophagic processes in neurons lead to improper homeostasis and neurodegeneration. Recent studies have suggested that impairments of the autophagic process are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and static encephalopathy of childhood with neurodegeneration in adulthood. In this review, we focus on the recent findings regarding the autophagic process and the involvement of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Shido 1314-1, Sanuki, Kagawa 769-2193, Japan. kiriyamay@kph.bunri-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshimitsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiriyama
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Shido 1314-1, Sanuki, Kagawa 769-2193, Japan. nochi@kph.bunri-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nochi
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics*; D000071189:Autophagy-Related Protein-1 Homolog; D000071186:Beclin-1; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C491997:BECN1 protein, human; D000071186:Beclin-1; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D000071189:Autophagy-Related Protein-1 Homolog; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; C484754:ULK1 protein, human; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases
keywords: ALS; Alzheimer’s disease; Huntington’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; SENDA; autophagy; mitophagy