The cellular catabolic process in which cells digest parts of their own cytoplasm; allows for both recycling of macromolecular constituents under conditions of cellular stress and remodeling the intracellular structure for cell differentiation.

The major inducible pathway for the general turnover of cytoplasmic constituents in eukaryotic cells, it is also responsible for the degradation of active cytoplasmic enzymes and organelles during nutrient starvation. Macroautophagy involves the formation of double-membrane-bounded autophagosomes which enclose the cytoplasmic constituent targeted for degradation in a membrane-bounded structure. Autophagosomes then fuse with a lysosome (or vacuole) releasing single-membrane-bounded autophagic bodies that are then degraded within the lysosome (or vacuole). Some types of macroautophagy, e.g. pexophagy, mitophagy, involve selective targeting of the targets to be degraded.

A vacuole that has both lytic and storage functions. The fungal vacuole is a large, membrane-bounded organelle that functions as a reservoir for the storage of small molecules (including polyphosphate, amino acids, several divalent cations (e.g. calcium), other ions, and other small molecules) as well as being the primary compartment for degradation. It is an acidic compartment, containing an ensemble of acid hydrolases. At least in S. cerevisiae, there are indications that the morphology of the vacuole is variable and correlated with the cell cycle, with logarithmically growing cells having a multilobed, reticulated vacuole, while stationary phase cells contain a single large structure.

Punctate structures proximal to the endoplasmic reticulum which are the sites where the Atg machinery assembles upon autophagy induction.

All of the contents of a cell excluding the plasma membrane and nucleus, but including other subcellular structures.

A compound membranous cytoplasmic organelle of eukaryotic cells, consisting of flattened, ribosome-free vesicles arranged in a more or less regular stack. The Golgi apparatus differs from the endoplasmic reticulum in often having slightly thicker membranes, appearing in sections as a characteristic shallow semicircle so that the convex side (cis or entry face) abuts the endoplasmic reticulum, secretory vesicles emerging from the concave side (trans or exit face). In vertebrate cells there is usually one such organelle, while in invertebrates and plants, where they are known usually as dictyosomes, there may be several scattered in the cytoplasm. The Golgi apparatus processes proteins produced on the ribosomes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; such processing includes modification of the core oligosaccharides of glycoproteins, and the sorting and packaging of proteins for transport to a variety of cellular locations. Three different regions of the Golgi are now recognized both in terms of structure and function: cis, in the vicinity of the cis face, trans, in the vicinity of the trans face, and medial, lying between the cis and trans regions.

A stable assembly of two or more macromolecules, i.e. proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates or lipids, in which at least one component is a protein and the constituent parts function together.