title: The putative role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
abstract: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a significant cause of worldwide mortality and morbidity. While the histopathological characteristics of AAA are well documented, the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AAA are not entirely understood. Autophagy is a highly conserved basal cellular process in eukaryotic cells that involves the turnover of organelles and proteins. It is also activated as an adaptive response to stressful conditions to promote cell survival. While autophagy typically promotes pro-survival processes, it can sometimes lead to cellular demise. Preclinical studies have revealed autophagy to be a protective mechanism in certain vascular diseases with several autophagy-related genes reported to be markedly upregulated in human aneurysmal tissue. The role autophagy plays in the pathogenesis of AAA, however, remains poorly defined. In this review, we discuss the putative role of autophagy in AAA by reviewing several in vitro and in vivo studies that address the functional significance of autophagy in cells that are involved in the pathophysiology of AAA, amongst which are macrophages, smooth muscle and endothelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Azza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramadan
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Surgery, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Omran
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: vermasu@smh.ca.
authors.forename: Subodh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001343:Autophagy; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction
keywords: Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Autophagy; Endothelial cells; Macrophages; Smooth muscle cells