Autophagic-lysosomal degradation is essential for the maintenance of normal homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. Several types of such self-degradative and recycling pathways have been identified. From these, probably the least known autophagic process is crinophagy, during which unnecessary or obsolete secretory granules directly fuse with late endosomes/lysosomes as a means of rapid elimination of unused secretory material from the cytoplasm. This process was identified in 1966, but we are only beginning to understand the molecular mechanisms and regulation of crinophagy. In this review, we summarize the current examination methods and possible model systems, discuss the recently identified factors that are required for crinophagy, and give an overview of the potential medical relevance of this process.

自噬溶酶体降解对于维持真核细胞中的正常稳态至关重要。已经确定了几种类型的这种自降解和再循环途径。从这些中，可能是最不为人知的自噬过程是吞噬作用，在此过程中不必要或过时的分泌颗粒直接与后期的内体/溶酶体融合，以作为从细胞质中快速清除未使用的分泌物质的手段。此过程于1966年确定，但我们才刚刚开始了解石吞的分子机制和调控。在这篇综述中，我们总结了当前的检查方法和可能的模型系统，讨论了最近发现的眼吞噬所必需的因素，并对这一过程的潜在医学意义进行了概述。