Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Islets. 2009 Sep-Oct;1(2):157-9. doi: 10.4161/isl.1.2.9372.
Autophagy is a vacuolar, self-digesting mechanism responsible for the removal of organelles and defined regions of the cytoplams. This process has, in general, a beneficial role for the cell, since it regulates the turnover of aged proteins and eliminates damaged structures. However, cells that undergo altered autophagy may be triggered to die in a non-apoptotic manner. As a matter of fact, in recent years it has become clear that dysregulated autophagy may be implicated in several disorders, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and hepatic encephalopathy. We have recently shown that β-cells of type 2 diabetic subjects show signs of autophagy associated death, which may contribute to the overall loss of β-cell mass in type 2 diabetes. In addition, studies with cell lines and rodent models have demonstrated the importance of autophagy in β-cell function and survival. Altogether, the available evidence supports the view that autophagy is implicated in β-cell pathophysiology, and suggests that addressing the molecular mechanisms involved in autophagic regulation might provide clues for preventing or treating β-cell damage in diabetes.
自噬是一种液泡性的、自我消化的机制，负责细胞器和细胞质特定区域的清除。一般来说，这个过程对细胞有益，因为它可以调节老化蛋白质的周转和消除受损的结构。然而，经历异常自噬的细胞可能会以非凋亡的方式被触发死亡。事实上，近年来已经很清楚，失调的自噬可能与多种疾病有关，如癌症、神经退行性疾病和肝性脑病。我们最近表明，2 型糖尿病患者的β细胞表现出与自噬相关的死亡迹象，这可能导致 2 型糖尿病中β细胞数量的总体损失。此外，细胞系和啮齿动物模型的研究表明自噬在β细胞功能和存活中的重要性。总的来说，现有证据支持自噬与β细胞病理生理学有关的观点，并表明解决自噬调节中涉及的分子机制可能为预防或治疗糖尿病中的β细胞损伤提供线索。
