Regulation of endocytosis and autophagy by distinct cargo adaptors Event

How cells coordinate the sorting, transfer, and movement of various intracellular cargoes relies on a complex set of machinery. In particular, intracellular pathways such as endocytosis and autophagy are managed by numerous scaffold, adaptor, and signalling proteins which identify and sort cargo as well as regulate signal transduction. The endocytic pathway targets extracellular and membrane associated proteins while the autophagy pathway targets cytosolic proteins and organelles, both destined for degradation and recycling by lysosomal proteases. We have characterised various proteins within these pathways and suggest that these pathways do not remain separate, but rather intersect and overlap, mediated by distinct cargo adaptors. Determining the interacting partners of these adaptors, their mechanism of action, and how they function along these pathways is crucial to understanding the relationship between endocytosis and autophagy.