A Tissue- and Temporal-Specific Autophagic Switch Controls Drosophila Pre-metamorphic Nutritional Checkpoints (Current Biology)

Pan et al. identify a temporally regulated, endocrine organ-specific autophagy process that prevents premature pupariation of Drosophila larvae under nutritional stress. Autophagy limits cholesterol from entering the steroid hormone biosynthetic pathway and may be a general stress response mechanism controlling hormone production in other organisms.