Figure 1.

Conceptual model for autophagy. The basic mechanism of autophagy is the sequestration of the cargo material (bulk cytoplasm, protein aggregates, organelles, or pathogens) by a cytosolic double‐membrane vesicle named an autophagosome. Extracellular stimuli or the recognition of a specific intracellular cargo induce the expansion of the isolation membrane. Upon vesicle completion, the autophagosome docks with the lysosome/vacuole and successively fuses with it. In this way the inner vesicle is liberated inside the vacuole where it is finally consumed together with the cargo by resident hydrolases. This schematic represents nonspecific autophagy and does not show specific types of autophagy including the Cvt pathway.