Otofaji: Programlı Hücre Ölümü

Working as a quality control system, autophagy is a physiological phenomenon responsible for the degradation of long lived proteins, dysfunctional organelles, cytosolic fragments, damaged marcomolecules and pathogens in cells. In addition to its biological recycling function, autophagy plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndromes such as obesity and diabetes. Since the energy required to maintain cell function is high, disturbances in the balance between anabolic and catabolic metabolism possibly contribute to various disorders. Dysfunction of autophagy leads to the initiation and progression of multiple diseases. Autophagy contributes to cell death depending on the cellular contents especially under conditions associated with impaired apoptosis. Therefore, there has been increasing research on the molecular mechanisms and metabolic regulation of autophagy. Basal autophagy may function as a tumor suppressive mechanism during tumorigenesis; however, excessive autophagy works as a pro-survival pathway in some cancer types. Research in this area is critical for the development of novel therapeutics in health problems such as cancer, infections, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases.