Autophagic structures revealed by cryo-electron tomography: new clues about autophagosome biogenesis

Autophagy. 2023 May;19(5):1375-1377. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2023.2175305. Epub 2023 Feb 16.

Abstract

Transitions from the early to late phagophore, which occur to engulf cytoplasmic material within an autophagosome for macroautophagic/autophagic degradation, involve dynamic ultrastructural changes that are not fully understood. A recent study combined cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) with extensive computational analysis to get a better insight into autophagosome biogenesis in situ within yeast cells. This approach disclosed new information on the shape of autophagic structures, their contacts with surrounding organelles, membrane sources, and mechanisms of transition. Together, these results provide new directions for autophagy research, and show the potential of cryo-ET in cell biology.Abbreviations: Cryo-ET, cryo-electron tomography; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; IMDa, intermembrane distance in the autophagosome; IMDp, intermembrane distance in the phagophore; LD, lipid droplets.

Keywords: Endoplasmic reticulum; membrane organelle; phagophore; vacuole; vesicle.

Publication types

  • Editorial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Autophagosomes* / metabolism
  • Autophagy*
  • Electron Microscope Tomography
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum / metabolism
  • Macroautophagy
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae