Autophagy in Caenorhabditis elegans

Macroautophagy (or autophagy) is a catabolic process responsible for the degradation of long-lived proteins, molecules and organelles. Cellular stressors such as food limitation, space restriction, oxidative stress, temperature shifts, and accumulation of protein aggregates induce autophagy. Cellular material to be degraded is engulfed in autophagosomes, which fuse with the lysosome where material is degraded. Cellular components can then be recycled. Autophagy has been assigned pro-survival and pro-death functions. Here, we reviewed the roles of autophagy in cell growth and death, in ageing and longevity, as well as in neurodegeneration in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.