Evolutionarily conserved selective autophagy pathways

Selective autophagy is a regulated process that ensures the specific recognition and lysosomal degradation of defined intracellular substrates, including damaged organelles, protein aggregates, and invading pathogens. Despite intense research interest, several mechanistic aspects of selective autophagy remain incompletely understood. Comparative analysis across different models offers a valuable framework for identifying evolutionarily conserved molecular components and regulatory principles. In this review, we provide a detailed overview of seven major evolutionarily conserved selective autophagy pathways: mitophagy, xenophagy, pexophagy, lysophagy, ER-phagy, Golgiphagy, and ribophagy, building on data from four widely used model organisms (mammals, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We focus on the core molecular machinery including the modes of cargo recognition via already characterized and predicted selective receptors, and orchestration of cargo capture into forming autophagosomes.