The roles, mechanisms, and controversies of autophagy in mammalian biology.
Autophagy is a universally conserved metabolic program of catabolism that plays important roles in energy homeostasis and impacts both normal physiology and multiple disease processes, including cancer. Autophagy has been documented as a pro-survival mechanism used to maintain viability under starvation conditions; however, conflicting findings have also implicated autophagy in the control of cell death. Adding to the controversy, central mediators of autophagy have been implicated in both pro-survival and pro-death processes. This report highlights recent insights into our understanding of how autophagy is regulated and newly discovered physiological roles for autophagy in normal biology and disease.
Goodman Cancer Centre, Department of Physiology, McGill University 1160 Avenue Des Pins Ouest, Montreal, QC H3A 1A3 Canada. russell.jones@mcgill.ca
Russell G
RG
Jones