Editorial: Autophagy in Mammalian Development and Differentiation.

Autophagy is a cellular degradation and recycling process by which cytoplasmic components, including macromolecules andorganelles, are sequestered into specialized autophagosomal vesicles to be delivered and degraded in lysosomes (Klionsky and Emr, 2000;Levine andKlionsky, 2004; He andKlionsky,2009).Autophagyishighlyactiveduringtheearlieststagesofdevelopmentregulating stem cell pluripotency and differentiation (Jang et al., 2016; Xu et al., 2020), but also fundamental to later morphogenetic processes that together with apoptosis are decisive in tissue remodeling and shaping the embryo’s organization (Qu et al., 2007). Moreover, autophagic process likely protects cells during metabolic stress and nutrient deprivation that occur during tissue remodeling. It is therefore evident that the close interplay between autophagy and the processes of cell death, proliferation, and differentiation determine eukaryotic development.