Medical Research Council, Toxicology Unit, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Oct 22;414(2):277-81. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2011.09.080. Epub 2011 Sep 22.
Autophagy is a self-digesting mechanism that cells adopt to respond to stressful stimuli. Morphologically, cells dying by autophagy show multiple cytoplasmic double-membraned vacuoles, and, if prolonged, autophagy can lead to cell death, "autophagic cell death". Thus, autophagy can act both as a temporary protective mechanism during a brief stressful episode and be a mode of cell death in its own right. In this mini-review we focus on recent knowledge concerning the connection between autophagy and programmed cell death, evaluating their possible implications for therapy in pathologies like cancer and neurodegeneration.
自噬是细胞应对应激刺激时采用的一种自我消化机制。从形态学上看，通过自噬死亡的细胞表现出多个细胞质双层膜空泡，如果持续下去，自噬会导致细胞死亡，即“自噬性细胞死亡”。因此，自噬既可以作为短暂应激期间的临时保护机制，也可以作为一种独立的细胞死亡方式。在这篇迷你综述中，我们重点关注自噬和程序性细胞死亡之间的联系的最新知识，评估它们对癌症和神经退行性变等疾病治疗的可能影响。
