Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that is present in most eukaryotes. In the process of autophagy, double membrane vesicles called autophagosomes sequester a wide variety of cellular constituents and deliver them to lytic organelles: lysosomes in mammals and vacuoles in yeast and plants. Although autophagy used to be considered a non-selective process in its target sequestration into autophagosomes, recent studies have revealed that autophagosomes can also selectively sequester certain proteins and organelles that have become unnecessary or harmful for the cell. We recently discovered that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is degraded by autophagy in a selective manner in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and identified "receptor proteins" that play pivotal roles in this "ER-phagy" pathway. Moreover, several ER-phagy receptors in mammalian cells have also been reported. This report provides an overview of our current knowledge on ER-phagy and discuss their mechanisms, physiological roles, and possible links to human diseases.

中文翻译：

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内质网的自噬降解。

自噬是大多数真核生物中存在的一种细胞内降解系统。在自噬过程中，称为自噬体的双层膜囊泡会隔离多种细胞成分，并将其递送至裂解细胞器：哺乳动物中的溶酶体以及酵母和植物中的液泡。尽管自噬过去被认为是一种非选择性过程，将其目标隔离到自噬体中，但最近的研究表明，自噬体还可以选择性地隔离某些对细胞不必要或有害的蛋白质和细胞器。我们最近发现，在芽殖酵母酿酒酵母中，内质网（ER）以选择性方式被自噬降解，并确定了在这种“ER自噬”途径中发挥关键作用的“受体蛋白”。此外，还报道了哺乳动物细胞中的几种内质网吞噬受体。本报告概述了我们目前对内质网自噬的了解，并讨论了其机制、生理作用以及与人类疾病的可能联系。