Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), one of the main pathways of lysosomal proteolysis, is characterized by the selective targeting and direct translocation into the lysosomal lumen of substrate proteins containing a targeting motif biochemically related to the pentapeptide KFERQ. Along with the other two lysosomal pathways, macro-and micro-autophagy, CMA is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis and survival by selectively degrading misfolded, oxidized, or damaged cytosolic proteins. CMA plays an important role in pathologies such as cancer, kidney disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Neurons are post-mitotic and highly susceptible to dysfunction of cellular quality-control systems. Maintaining a balance between protein synthesis and degradation is critical for neuronal functions and homeostasis. Recent studies have revealed several new mechanisms by which CMA protects neurons through regulating factors critical for their viability and homeostasis. In the current review, we summarize recent advances in the understanding of the regulation and physiology of CMA with a specifi c focus on its possible roles in neuroprotection.Keywords: chaperone-mediated autophagy; cellular homeostasis; neuroprotection; neuronal death; neurodegenerative disease ·Review·
IntroductionMaintaining the balance between protein synthesis and degradation contributes to cellular homeostasis [1][2][3] . The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and the autophagylysosome pathway (ALP) are major systems present in almost all cell types to mediate the degradation of intracellular proteins into their constitutive amino-acids [4,5] .The UPS is a multi-subunit protease complex that degrades proteins tagged with one or more covalently-bound ubiquitin molecules, and most proteasome substrates are proteins with a short half-life [6,7] .In contrast to the UPS, the ALP is mainly responsible for the degradation of long-lived proteins and organelles.On the basis of the mechanism used for delivery of intracellular cargoes to lysosomes, autophagy can be divided into three types: macroautophagy (MA), microautophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) [8,9] . Both CMA and MA have been identified in mammals as processes important for damage and diseases of the central nervous system [10] . MA is a bulk degradation system that involves the formation of a double-membrane structure (autophagosome) that sequesters damaged organelles and proteins. The autophagosome acquires the hydrolytic enzymes necessary to degrade its cargo by fusing with lysosomes [11] . Microautophagy traps nonspecifi c cytoplasm inside vesicles via direct invagination of the lysosomal membrane. These vesicles "pinch off" into the lumen and are degraded by lysosomal hydrolases [12] .CMA is the third type of autophagy, and has so far been found only in mammalian cells [13,14] . One of its intrinsic features is the selective targeting and direct translocation into the lysosomal lumen of substrate proteins containing a targeting motif related to the pentapeptide KFERQ [15,16] [17][1...