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Updated: Jun 30, 2026

In Situ Immunofluorescent Staining of Autophagy in Muscle Stem Cells
Published on: June 12, 2017
The role of autophagy in mammalian development: cell makeover rather than cell death
Francesco Cecconi1, Beth Levine2
1Dulbecco Telethon Institute at the Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy; Laboratory of Molecular Neuroembryology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Autophagy is important for the degradation of bulk cytoplasm, long-lived proteins, and entire organelles. In lower eukaryotes, autophagy functions as a cell death mechanism or as a stress response during development. However, autophagy's significance in vertebrate development, and the role (if any) of vertebrate-specific factors in its regulation, remains unexplained. Through careful analysis of the current autophagy gene mutant mouse models, we propose that in mammals, autophagy may be involved in specific cytosolic rearrangements needed for proliferation, death, and differentiation during embryogenesis and postnatal development. Thus, autophagy is a process of cytosolic "renovation," crucial in cell fate decisions.
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