Autophagy in Neuronal Development and Plasticity

• Published in: Trends in neurosciences (Regular ed.) Vol. 43; no. 10; pp. 767 - 779
• Main Authors: Fleming, Angeleen, Rubinsztein, David C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2020
• Subjects: Autophagy; Humans; Lysosomes; memory; Neurodegenerative Diseases; neurogenesis; Neuronal Plasticity; neuronal stem cell (NSC); Neurons; plasticity; psychiatric disease; neurogenesis; neuronal stem cell (NSC); plasticity; autophagy; memory; psychiatric disease
• ISSN: 0166-2236; 1878-108X; 1878-108X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.07.003

Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular clearance pathway in which cytoplasmic contents are trafficked to the lysosome for degradation. Within neurons, it helps to remove damaged organelles and misfolded or aggregated proteins and has therefore been the subject of intense research in relation to neurodegenerative disease. However, far less is understood about the role of autophagy in other aspects of neuronal physiology. Here we review the literature on the role of autophagy in maintaining neuronal stem cells and in neuronal plasticity in adult life and we discuss how these contribute to structural and functional deficits observed in a range of human disorders. Growing evidence suggests that autophagy is essential for both developmental and adult neural stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation.In the mature CNS, autophagy plays a role in plasticity through actions within the axon, dendritic spine, and during synaptic assembly.Defects in autophagy and its role in neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity may contribute to developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, memory deficits, and psychiatric disorders such as depression.