Autophagy in physiological and pathological processes – selected aspects

Abstract

This paper describes a model of cell death, called autophagy, one among other typical and atypical processes of cell death. This phenomenon is present in the organism, from conception until death, and is conditioned by many genes of ATG family, or mTOR kinase and specific proteins, like BNIP3. This process plays a very important role not only in physiological functions of the organism but also in pathological, such as Alzheimer or Huntington disease, as well as diseases caused by viruses.

Berberine attenuates adverse left ventricular remodeling and cardiac dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction in rats: Role of autophagy

“…LC‐3B and Beclin‐1 were the most important autophagic cytokines in the present study, consistent with published literature . Previous studies have suggested that autophagy can be activated through either mTOR‐dependent or mTOR‐independent pathways .…”

Protective properties of heme oxygenase-1 expressed in umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells help restore the ovarian function of premature ovarian failure mice through activating the JNK/Bcl-2 signal pathway-regulated autophagy and upregulating the circulating of CD8+CD28− T cells

“…Attentions have been drawn to the HO-1-mediated autophagy pathway [12,13]. In physical conditions, autophagy maintains cellular homeostasis [14][15][16], while under short-term stress, it promotes survival and viability [17]. In the ovary, autophagy in murine newborns participates in preserving the primordial oocyte pool [18] and is relevant to oocyte elimination during follicular atresia [19].…”

Diagnostic Application of Lysosomal Exoglycosidases

“…The best described is macroautophagy, where the cellular region destined for digestion is surrounded by the phospholipid membrane creating autophagosome. Then autophagosome merges with lysosome, where acid hydrolases degrade autosome contents into simple organic compounds, ready for utilization by the cell [11]. Additionally, autophagy provides the cells with energy [12].…”