Shintani Takahiro, Klionsky Daniel J
University of Michigan, Life Sciences Institute, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2216, USA.
Science. 2004 Nov 5;306(5698):990-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1099993.
Autophagy, the process by which cells recycle cytoplasm and dispose of excess or defective organelles, has entered the research spotlight largely owing to the discovery of the protein components that drive this process. Identifying the autophagy genes in yeast and finding orthologs in other organisms reveals the conservation of the mechanism of autophagy in eukaryotes and allows the use of molecular genetics and biology in different model systems to study this process. By mostly morphological studies, autophagy has been linked to disease processes. Whether autophagy protects from or causes disease is unclear. Here, we summarize current knowledge about the role of autophagy in disease and health.
自噬是细胞回收细胞质并处理多余或有缺陷细胞器的过程，由于驱动这一过程的蛋白质成分的发现，它已成为研究的焦点。鉴定酵母中的自噬基因并在其他生物体中找到直系同源基因，揭示了真核生物中自噬机制的保守性，并允许在不同的模型系统中使用分子遗传学和生物学来研究这一过程。通过大多是形态学研究，自噬已与疾病过程相关联。自噬是预防疾病还是引发疾病尚不清楚。在这里，我们总结了关于自噬在疾病和健康中作用的当前知识。
