Autophagy in the Pathogenesis of Disease

Beth Levine, Guido Kroemer

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    6045 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that is essential for survival, differentiation, development, and homeostasis. Autophagy principally serves an adaptive role to protect organisms against diverse pathologies, including infections, cancer, neurodegeneration, aging, and heart disease. However, in certain experimental disease settings, the self-cannibalistic or, paradoxically, even the prosurvival functions of autophagy may be deleterious. This Review summarizes recent advances in understanding the physiological functions of autophagy and its possible roles in the causation and prevention of human diseases.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)27-42
    Number of pages16
    JournalCell
    Volume132
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2008

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