iFly: The eye of the fruit fly as a model to study autophagy and related trafficking pathways

Autophagy is a process by which eukaryotic cells degrade and recycle their intracellular components within lysosomes. Autophagy is induced by starvation to ensure survival of individual cells, and it has evolved to fulfill numerous additional roles in animals. Autophagy not only provides nutrient su...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental eye research 2016-03, Vol.144, p.90-98
Main Authors: Lőrincz, Péter, Takáts, Szabolcs, Kárpáti, Manuéla, Juhász, Gábor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Autophagy
Cell Movement
Compound Eye, Arthropod - physiology
Disease Models, Animal
Drosophila
Drosophila melanogaster
Eye
Nerve Degeneration - physiopathology
Nerve Degeneration - prevention & control
Neurodegeneration
Pigment granule
Protein Transport - physiology
Retinal Diseases - physiopathology
Retinal Diseases - prevention & control
Retinula cell
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Autophagy is a process by which eukaryotic cells degrade and recycle their intracellular components within lysosomes. Autophagy is induced by starvation to ensure survival of individual cells, and it has evolved to fulfill numerous additional roles in animals. Autophagy not only provides nutrient supply through breakdown products during starvation, but it is also required for the elimination of damaged or surplus organelles, toxic proteins, aggregates, and pathogens, and is essential for normal organelle turnover. Because of these roles, defects in autophagy have pathological consequences. Here we summarize the current knowledge of autophagy and related trafficking pathways in a convenient model: the compound eye of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In our review, we present a general introduction of the development and structure of the compound eye. This is followed by a discussion of various neurodegeneration models including retinopathies, with special emphasis on the protective role of autophagy against these diseases. •The fly eye is a popular and excellent model for retinopathies and proteinopathies.•Autophagy plays important roles in health and disease.•Autophagy is dispensable for eye development and pigment granule formation.•Autophagy usually protects from neurodegeneration induced by light or mutant proteins.
ISSN:0014-4835
1096-0007
DOI:10.1016/j.exer.2015.06.013