Microautophagy: current understanding of its molecular mechanisms and functions

Microautophagy (MI-autophagy) is an umbrella term for intracellular degradative pathways that entail the invagination or protrusion of the limiting membranes of endolysosomal compartments, that is, late endosomes and mammalian lysosomes or yeast and plant vacuoles, followed by pinching-off of the membrane into the lumen of the organelle. During these processes, the material specifically and nonspecifically targeted for degradation is sequestered within the invaginating or protuberating membrane. In contrast to macroautophagy, the molecular mechanisms underlying MI-autophagy are largely unknown due to their diversity and complexity in location, regulation and molecular machinery requirements. Here, we review recent progress in the field of MI-autophagy, describing the molecular basis and functions of the MI-autophagic pathways reported to date in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to mammalian and plant cells.

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Publication Details

Journal
Autophagy Reports
Published
2026-02-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/27694127.2026.2626661
Primary Topic
Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
Type
article
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article

Microautophagy: current understanding of its molecular mechanisms and functions

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Autophagy Reports
Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
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Microautophagy: current understanding of its molecular mechanisms and functions

Takashi USHIMARU, Masanori Izumi, Marisa S. Otegui, Andreas Jenny, Masahide Oku, Jayanta Debnath, Tomohiko TAGUCHI, Gengfu Xiao, Ling Tian, Han-Ming Shen, Yasuyoshi Sakai, Laura Santambrogio, Maurizio Molinari, Shuhei Nakamura
article en

Abstract

Microautophagy (MI-autophagy) is an umbrella term for intracellular degradative pathways that entail the invagination or protrusion of the limiting membranes of endolysosomal compartments, that is, late endosomes and mammalian lysosomes or yeast and plant vacuoles, followed by pinching-off of the membrane into the lumen of the organelle. During these processes, the material specifically and nonspecifically targeted for degradation is sequestered within the invaginating or protuberating membrane. In contrast to macroautophagy, the molecular mechanisms underlying MI-autophagy are largely unknown due to their diversity and complexity in location, regulation and molecular machinery requirements. Here, we review recent progress in the field of MI-autophagy, describing the molecular basis and functions of the MI-autophagic pathways reported to date in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to mammalian and plant cells.

Autophagy ReportsVol. 5(1)
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)
Openalex Percentile: Top 44%
Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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