Built to last: lysosome remodeling and repair in health and disease

Lysosomes play major roles in growth regulation and catabolism and are recognized as critical mediators of cellular remodeling. An emerging theme is how the lysosome is itself subjected to extensive remodeling in order to perform specific tasks that meet the changing demands of the cell. Accordingly, lysosomes can sustain physical damage and undergo dramatic changes in composition following pathogen infection, accumulation of protein aggregates, or cellular transformation, necessitating dedicated pathways for their repair, remodeling, and restoration. In this review, we focus on emerging molecular mechanisms for piecemeal remodeling of lysosomal components and wholesale repair and discuss their implications in physiological and pathogenic challenges such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and pathogen infection.