How Shall I Eat Thee? (original) (raw)

autophagy, mitophagy, pexophagy, protein degradation, stress, xenophagy "All the cell's a stage, and all the cytoplasm in it merely a substrate for autophagy." From As You Eat It in Shakespeare for the Cell Biologist If you work in the field of autophagy we do not really need to tell you that this research area has grown tremendously. Along with that growth has developed a need for some unification of the nomenclature. In 2003, researchers working with the yeast model system proposed the use of the acronym ATG to denote AuTophaGy-related genes, 1 and this designation has also been adopted for most of the genes involved in autophagy in higher eukaryotes. Similarly, a common nomenclature for isoforms of lysosome associated protein type 2 (LAMP-2) was recently proposed, hopefully reducing some of the confusion resulting from the use of multiple names. 2 At this time we thought it worthwhile to consider the terms being used to describe different types of lysosomal or vacuolar degradative pathways. Many names are being introduced, and this is reasonable to the extent that these various processes have distinct features; each unique process needs a specific name to avoid confusion, and to eliminate the need for a lengthy description. It would be helpful, however, if the community agreed on their use. Finally, the addition or use of a name that implies a unique process must be backed up by data that justify the nomenclature. Thus, researchers should verify that a process is specific before using a name that implies specificity. For example, to demonstrate selectivity in organelle degradation it is incumbent upon the researcher to show that the organelle in question, and not other organelles, is sequestered and/or degraded with kinetics that distinguish it from a bulk, nonspecific process.