AUTOPHAGY IN SKELETAL MUSCLE : AUTOPHAGIC VACUOLAR MYOPATHIES

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells from yeast to human primarily use two distinct major mechanism for intracellular degradation/recycling system: the autophagy and proteasome. Autophagy contributes to the turnover of cellular components by delivering portions of the cytoplasm and organelles to lysosomes, where they are digested. Moreover, autophagy is involved in programmed cell death (PCD) and is called type II PCD, which differs from apoptosis (type I PCD). By mostly morphological studies, autophagy has been linked to disease processes: cancer, liver diseases, neurodegeneration, muscular disorders, and so on. Actually, lysosomes or autophagic vacuoles are morphologically unremarkable in normal muscle. However, in certain muscular disorders, the lysosomal system becomes prominent, indicating that autophagy is essential for muscle fibers. Here, we described current knowledge about the role of autophagy and the autophagy in muscular disorders: autophagic vacuolar myopathies.