Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), as one of the main pathways of lysosomal catabolism, plays essential roles for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. To date, the absence of any identifiable LAMP2A - the necessary and limiting protein required for CMA - in non-tetrapod lineages, led to the paradigm that this cellular process was restricted to mammals and birds. The recent findings of Lescat et al., demonstrating the existence of a CMA activity in fish, now reshuffle the cards regarding how the entire evolution of CMA function should be considered and appreciated across metazoans. Hence, beyond challenging the current tetrapod-centered accepted view, the work of Lescat et al. tackles the possibility - or the compelling need - of using complementary and powerful genetic models, such as zebrafish or medaka, for studying this fundamental function from an evolutionary perspective.
Keywords: Chaperone-mediated autophagy; CMA; Lamp2a; evolution; fish; medaka; zebrafish.