Autophagy is a key cellular degradative pathway, important for neuronal homeostasis and function. Disruption of autophagy is associated with neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Autophagy is compartmentalized in neurons, with specific stages of the pathway occurring in distinct subcellular compartments. Coordination of these stages drives progression of autophagy and enables clearance of substrates. Yet, we are only now learning how these distributed processes are integrated across the neuron. In this review, we focus on the cell biological course of autophagy in neurons, from biogenesis at the synapse to degradation in the soma. We describe how the steps of autophagy are distributed across neuronal subcellular compartments, how local machinery regulates autophagy, and the impact of coordinated regulation on neuronal physiology and disease. We also discuss how recent advances in our understanding of neuronal autophagic mechanisms have reframed how we think about the role of local regulation of autophagy in all tissues.

自噬是关键的细胞降解途径，对神经元稳态和功能很重要。自噬的破坏与神经元功能障碍和神经变性有关。自噬在神经元中是分隔的，通路的特定阶段发生在不同的亚细胞分隔中。这些阶段的协调驱动了自噬的进展，并能够清除底物。但是，我们现在才了解这些分布过程如何在整个神经元中整合。在这篇综述中，我们专注于神经元自噬的细胞生物学过程，从突触的生物发生到躯体的降解。我们描述了自噬的步骤如何分布在神经元亚细胞区室中，局部机器如何调节自噬以及协调调节对神经元生理和疾病的影响。