Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that is essential for cell survival, differentiation, development, and homeostasis. The process of autophagy in mammalian cells is as follows: a portion of cytoplasm, including organelles, is enclosed by a phagophore or isolation membrane to form an autophagosome. The outer membrane of the autophagosome subsequently fuses with the endosome and then the lysosome, and the internal material is degraded. Autophagy plays a wide variety of physiological and pathophysiological roles. Defective autophagy contributes to various pathologies, including infections, cancer, neurodegeneration, aging, and heart disease.

MCE provides a unique collection of 1,385 autophagy pathway-related compounds that is a useful tool for the research of autophagy-related regulation and diseases.

For pre-dissolved solutions, 10 mM for compounds with the solubility not lower than 10 mM, 2 mM for compounds with solubility between 2 mM and 10 mM, and 3 mg/mL for compounds with unconfirmed molecular weight and solubility not lower than 3 mg/mL.