Autophagy plays a double-edged sword role in liver diseases

As a highly evolutionarily conserved process, autophagy can be found in all types of eukaryotic cells. Such a constitutive process maintains cellular homeostasis in a wide variety of cell types through the encapsulation of damaged proteins or organelles into double-membrane vesicles. Autophagy not o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physiology and biochemistry 2022-02, Vol.78 (1), p.9-17
Main Authors: Zhou, Jing-chao, Wang, Jing-lin, Ren, Hao-zhen, Shi, Xiao-lei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Physiology
Autophagy
Autophagy - physiology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Development and progression
Hepatitis
Hepatocytes
Homeostasis
Human Physiology
Humans
Liver
Liver diseases
Liver Diseases - etiology
Membrane vesicles
Molecular modelling
Organelles
Physiological aspects
Proteins
Review
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Summary:As a highly evolutionarily conserved process, autophagy can be found in all types of eukaryotic cells. Such a constitutive process maintains cellular homeostasis in a wide variety of cell types through the encapsulation of damaged proteins or organelles into double-membrane vesicles. Autophagy not only simply eliminates materials but also serves as a dynamic recycling system that produces new building blocks and energy for cellular renovation and homeostasis. Previous studies have primarily recognized the role of autophagy in the degradation of dysfunctional proteins and unwanted organelles. However, there are findings of autophagy in physiological and pathological processes. In hepatocytes, autophagy is not only essential for homeostatic functions but also implicated in some diseases, such as viral hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, and hepatic failure. In the present review, we summarized the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its role in several liver diseases and put forward several new strategies for the treatment of liver disease.
ISSN:1138-7548
1877-8755
DOI:10.1007/s13105-021-00844-7