Jiang Fan
Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2016 Nov;43(11):1021-1028. doi: 10.1111/1440-1681.12649.
The importance of autophagy in cardiovascular physiology and cardiovascular disease is increasingly recognized; however, the precise biological effects and underlying mechanisms of autophagy in the cardiovascular system are still poorly understood. In the last few years, the effects of autophagy in endothelial cells have attracted great interests. This article provides a summary of our current knowledge on the regulatory factors, signalling mechanisms, and functional outcomes of autophagy in endothelial cells. It is suggested that in most situations, induction of an autophagic response has cytoprotective effects. The beneficial effects of autophagy in endothelial cells are likely to be context-dependent, since autophagy may also contribute to cell death under certain circumstances. In addition to regulating endothelial cell survival or death, autophagy is also involved in modulating other important functions, such as nitric oxide production, angiogenesis and haemostasis/thrombosis. The mounting data will help us draw a clear picture of the roles of autophagy in endothelial cell biology and dysfunction. Given the pivotal role of endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of vascular disease, disruptions of autophagy in endothelial cells are likely to have significant contributions. This is supported by some preliminary ex vivo data indicating that compromised autophagic functions may be important in the development of endothelial dysfunctions associated with diabetes and ageing.
自噬在心血管生理学和心血管疾病中的重要性日益得到认可；然而，自噬在心血管系统中的精确生物学效应和潜在机制仍知之甚少。在过去几年中，自噬在内皮细胞中的作用引起了极大关注。本文总结了我们目前对内皮细胞自噬的调节因子、信号机制和功能结果的认识。研究表明，在大多数情况下，诱导自噬反应具有细胞保护作用。自噬在内皮细胞中的有益作用可能取决于具体情况，因为在某些情况下自噬也可能导致细胞死亡。除了调节内皮细胞的存活或死亡外，自噬还参与调节其他重要功能，如一氧化氮生成、血管生成和止血/血栓形成。越来越多的数据将有助于我们清晰地了解自噬在内皮细胞生物学和功能障碍中的作用。鉴于内皮功能障碍在血管疾病发病机制中的关键作用，内皮细胞自噬的破坏可能起了重要作用。一些初步的体外数据支持了这一点，这些数据表明自噬功能受损可能在与糖尿病和衰老相关的内皮功能障碍的发展中起重要作用。
