Fig. 1

Autophagy and endo-lysosomal mechanisms and related genes associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Macroautophagy begins with formation of an isolation membrane to engulf cargos selected for degradation. Elongation of the isolation membrane results in formation of the double membrane autophagosome marking the final step before lysosomal fusion and degradation. In parallel the endosomal system sorts molecules for either recycling or targeting to the lysosome, with chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) and microautophagy also delivering cargos to the lysosomes. Hydrolytic enzymes within the acidic lysosomal lumen digest the target and the constituents resulted from this are released into the cellular cytoplasm. Neurodegenerative disease causing or associated genes affecting various stages of autophagy are listed alongside the process in which they are involved. For additional information relating to disease association of listed genes, refer to Table 1