Interactions between endosomal maturation and autophagy: analysis of ESCRT machinery during Caenorhabditis elegans development.

Endocytosis and autophagy are key vesicular pathways involved in degradation and recycling of cellular material. Both degradative pathways finally fuse with lysosome but are indeed interconnected at several levels. In particular, the fusion between endosomes and autophagosomes can generate intermediate vesicles named amphisomes. We analyzed the physiological and developmental roles of the ESCRT machinery in a model organism, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and showed that the blockage of the endosomal maturation triggers the induction of autophagic activity. This chapter describes several methods for studying endocytosis, autophagy, and their interconnection in C. elegans. A series of genetic, biochemical, and microscopy analyses has been used to study at the cellular and developmental levels, the cross talks between autophagy and endocytosis.