Glycophagy — the physiological perspective on a newly characterized glycogen-selective autophagy

Abstract

Degradation of intracellular components through autophagy is a fundamental process to maintain cellular integrity and homeostasis. Recently, a glycogen-selective autophagy pathway has been described, termed ‘glycophagy’. Glycogen is a primary storage depot and regulator of glucose availability, and glycophagy is emerging as a critical physiological process involved in energy metabolism. Glycophagy-mediated degradation of glycogen appears to operate in parallel with the well-described canonical pathway of glycogenolysis involving glycogen phosphorylase. Evidence suggests that starch-binding domain protein 1 (Stbd1) is a key glycogen-binding protein involved in tagging glycogen for glycophagy,..