title: Current questions and possible controversies in autophagy.
abstract: Interest in autophagy has exploded over the last decade, with publications highlighting crosstalk with several other cellular processes including secretion, endocytosis, and cell suicide pathways including apoptosis. Autophagy proteins have also been implicated in other cellular processes independently of their roles in autophagy, creating complexities in the interpretation of autophagy (Atg) mutant gene data. Interestingly, this self-eating process is a survival mechanism that can also promote cell death, but when and how autophagy may 'switch' its function is still under debate. Indeed, there are currently many models of how autophagy actually influences cell death. In this review, we highlight some outstanding questions and possible controversies in the autophagy field.
authors.affiliation: Cell Signalling and Cell Death Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia ; Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.affiliation: Translational Immunology Lab, BRC-NIHR, John Radcliffe Hospital, Experimental Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford, UK ; MRC Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Baehrecke