Figure 1.

Three types of autophagy in mammalian cells. Macroautophagy relies on de novo formation of cytosolic double-membrane vesicles, autophagosomes, to sequester and transport cargo to the lysosome. Chaperone-mediated autophagy transports individual unfolded proteins directly across the lysosomal membrane. Microautophagy involves the direct uptake of cargo through invagination of the lysosomal membrane. All three types of autophagy lead to degradation of cargo and release of the breakdown products back into the cytosol for reuse by the cell.