Microautophagy: definition, classification, and the complexity of the underlying mechanisms
Recently, rapid progress in the field of microautophagy (MI-autophagy) revealed the existence of multiple subtypes that differ in both intracellular membrane dynamics and molecular mechanisms. As a result, a single umbrella term "microautophagy" has become too vague, even creating some confusion among researchers both within and outside the field. We herein describe different subtypes of MI-autophagic processes and propose a systematic approach for naming them more accurately.<b>Abbreviation:</b> ATG, autophagy related; e-MI, endosomal microautophagy; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; ESCRT, endosomal sorting complex required for transport; EV, extracellular vesicle; HSPA8/HSC70, heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8; ILVs, intralumenal vesicles; l-MI, lysosomal microautophagy; MAP1LC3/LC3, microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MCOLN1, mucolipin TRP cation channel 1; microautophagy, MI-autophagy; MVBs, multivesicular bodies; SQSTM1, sequestosome 1; v-MI, vacuolar microautophagy.
Authors
- Shuhei Nakamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1488-8317)
- Fulvio Reggiori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-2686)
- Masanori Izumi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5222-9163)
- Maurizio Molinari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7636-5829)
- Andreas Jenny (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5989-8212)
- Yasuyoshi Sakai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9831-3085)
- Marisa S. Otegui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4699-6950)
- Han‐Ming Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7369-5227)
- Tomohiko Taguchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0464-6370)
- Laura Santambrogio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4674-7041)
- Takashi Ushimaru (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4589-7408)
- Masahide Oku (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5991-6281)
- Zhiping Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5816-6159)
- Ana María Cuervo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0771-700X)
- Michael Thumm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3238-4857)
- Christian Behrends (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9184-7607)
- Jayanta Debnath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7173-8606)
Institutions
- Shizuoka University (JP)
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Tohoku University (JP)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- University of Macau (MO)
- Cornell University (US)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (JP)
- Nara Medical University Hospital (JP)
- Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (DE)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Università della Svizzera italiana (CH)
- Kyoto University of Advanced Science (JP)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Autophagy
- Published
- 2025-09-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2025.2559687
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.42