Abstract

Autophagy, or cellular self-digestion, is a cellular pathway involved in protein and organelle degradation, with an astonishing number of connections to human disease and physiology. For example, autophagic dysfunction is associated with cancer, neurodegeneration, microbial infection and ageing. Paradoxically, although autophagy is primarily a protective process for the cell, it can also play a role in cell death. Understanding autophagy may ultimately allow scientists and clinicians to harness this process for the purpose of improving human health.

Keywords

AutophagyNeurodegenerationCell biologyProgrammed cell deathBiologyOrganelleDiseaseMedicineApoptosisGeneticsPathology

MeSH Terms

AgingAnimalsAutophagyCell DeathCell SurvivalHumansImmunityInnateNeoplasmsNeurodegenerative Diseases

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Publication Info

Year
2008
Type
article
Volume
451
Issue
7182
Pages
1069-1075
Citations
6329
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Noboru Mizushima, Beth Levine, Ana María Cuervo et al. (2008). Autophagy fights disease through cellular self-digestion. Nature , 451 (7182) , 1069-1075. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06639

Identifiers

DOI
10.1038/nature06639
PMID
18305538
PMCID
PMC2670399

Data Quality

Data completeness: 86%