title: SNARE-mediated membrane fusion in autophagy.
abstract: Autophagy, a conserved self-eating process for the bulk degradation of cytoplasmic materials, involves double-membrane autophagosomes formed when an isolation membrane emerges and their direct fusion with lysosomes for degradation. For the early biogenesis of autophagosomes and their later degradation in lysosomes, membrane fusion is necessary, although different sets of genes and autophagy-related proteins involved in distinct fusion steps have been reported. To clarify the molecular mechanism of membrane fusion in autophagy, to not only expand current knowledge of autophagy, but also benefit human health, this review discusses key findings that elucidate the unique membrane dynamics of autophagy.
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China; Department of Cancer Biology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
authors.forename: Yongyao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Autophagy Research, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; State Key Lab of Animal Nutrition, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Linsen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China. Electronic address: jglong@xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiangang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Jiankang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Autophagy Research, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Electronic address: qing.zhong@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA. Electronic address: jiajie.diao@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Jiajie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000071182:Autophagosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D001343:Autophagy; D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D050600:SNARE Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins; D050600:SNARE Proteins
keywords: Autophagy; Membrane fusion; SNARE