ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) proteins were originally identified for their role in delivering endocytosed proteins to the intraluminal vesicles of late-endosomal structures termed multivesicular bodies. Multivesicular bodies then fuse with lysosomes, leading to degradation of the internalized proteins. Four ESCRT complexes interact to concentrate cargo on the endosomal membrane, induce membrane curvature to form an intraluminal bud and finally pinch off the bud through a membrane-scission event to produce the intraluminal vesicle. Recent work suggests that ESCRT proteins are also required downstream of these events to enable fusion of multivesicular bodies with lysosomes. Autophagy is a related pathway required for the degradation of organelles, long-lived proteins and protein aggregates which also converges on lysosomes. The proteins or organelle to be degraded are encapsulated by an autophagosome that fuses either directly with a lysosome or with an endosome to form an amphisome, which then fuses with a lysosome. A common machinery is beginning to emerge that regulates fusion events in the multivesicular body and autophagy pathways, and we focus in the present paper on the role of ESCRT proteins. These fusion events have been implicated in diseases including frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, lysosomal storage disorders, myopathies and bacterial pathogen invasion, and therefore further examination of the mechanisms involved may lead to new insight into disease pathogenesis and treatments.
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Conference Article|
November 24 2010
The role of ESCRT proteins in fusion events involving lysosomes, endosomes and autophagosomes
Daniel Metcalf;
Daniel Metcalf
1Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, U.K.
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Adrian M. Isaacs
Adrian M. Isaacs
1
1Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email a.isaacs@prion.ucl.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 17 2010
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Biochemical Society
2010
Biochem Soc Trans (2010) 38 (6): 1469–1473.
Article history
Received:
June 17 2010
Citation
Daniel Metcalf, Adrian M. Isaacs; The role of ESCRT proteins in fusion events involving lysosomes, endosomes and autophagosomes. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2010; 38 (6): 1469–1473. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0381469
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