title: Autophagy in cardiovascular disease.
abstract: Autophagy is a major cytoprotective pathway that eukaryotic cells use to degrade and recycle cytoplasmic contents. Recent evidence indicates that autophagy under baseline conditions represents an important homeostatic mechanism for the maintenance of normal cardiovascular function and morphology. By contrast, excessive induction of the autophagic process by environmental or intracellular stress has an important role in several types of cardiomyopathy by functioning as a death pathway. As a consequence, enhanced autophagy represents one of the mechanisms underlying the cardiomyocyte dropout responsible for the worsening of heart failure. Successful therapeutic approaches that regulate autophagy have been reported recently, suggesting that the autophagic machinery can be manipulated to treat heart failure or to prevent rupture of atherosclerotic plaques and sudden death.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium. wim.martinet@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Martinet
authors.forename: Michiel W M
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Knaapen
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kockx
authors.forename: Guido R Y
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: De Meyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D020123:Sirolimus