Feng Xu1,#, Jin-Hua Gu2,#, Zheng-Hong Qin3 

1Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
2Department of Pharmacology, Nantong University School of Medicine, Nantong 226001, China
3Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Pharmaceutical Science, Suzhou 215123, China

Abstract 

Autophagy has evolved as a conserved process for the bulk degradation and recycling of cytosolic components,such as long-lived proteins and organelles. In neurons, autophagy is important for homeostasis and protein quality control and is maintained at relatively low levels under normal conditions, while it is upregulated in response to pathophysiological conditions, such as cerebral ischemic injury. However, the role of autophagy is more complex.It depends on age or brain maturity, region, severity of insult, and the stage of ischemia. Whether autophagy plays a beneficial or a detrimental role in cerebral ischemia depends on various pathological conditions. In this review, we elucidate the role of neuronal autophagy in cerebral ischemia.

Keywords

autophagy; cerebral ischemia; neuron; apoptosis; necrosis

[SpringerLink]