Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), as one of the main pathways of lysosomal catabolism, plays essential roles for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. To date, the absence of any identifiable LAMP2A – the necessary and limiting protein required for CMA – in non-tetrapod lineages, led to the paradigm that this cellular process was restricted to mammals and birds. The recent findings of Lescat et al., demonstrating the existence of a CMA activity in fish, now reshuffle the cards regarding how the entire evolution of CMA function should be considered and appreciated across metazoans. Hence, beyond challenging the current tetrapod-centered accepted view, the work of Lescat et al. tackles the possibility – or the compelling need – of using complementary and powerful genetic models, such as zebrafish or medaka, for studying this fundamental function from an evolutionary perspective.

分子伴侣介导的自噬（CMA）作为溶酶体分解代谢的主要途径之一，在维持细胞稳态方面起着至关重要的作用。迄今为止，在非四足动物谱系中缺乏任何可识别的 LAMP2A——CMA 所需的必要和限制性蛋白质，导致这种细胞过程仅限于哺乳动物和鸟类的范式。Lescat等人最近的发现证明了鱼类中存在 CMA 活动，现在重新洗牌，关于如何跨后生动物考虑和欣赏 CMA 功能的整个进化。因此，除了挑战当前以四足动物为中心的公认观点之外，Lescat等人的工作. 解决了使用互补和强大的遗传模型（如斑马鱼或青鳉）从进化角度研究这一基本功能的可能性或迫切需要。