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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

In Situ Immunofluorescent Staining of Autophagy in Muscle Stem Cells
Published on: June 12, 2017
[The two faces of autophagy in the nervous system]
Julien Puyal1, Vanessa Ginet, Anne Vaslin
1Département de Biologie Cellulaire et de Morphologie (DBCM), Université de Lausanne, CH-1005 Lausanne, Suisse. JulienPierre.Puyal@unil.ch
Abstract:
Autophagy is a cellular mechanism for degrading proteins and organelles. It was first described as a physiological process essential for maintaining homeostasis and cell survival, but understanding its role in conditions of stress has been complicated by the recognition of a new type of cell death ("type 2") characterized by deleterious autophagic activity. This paradox is important in the central nervous system where the activation of autophagy seems to be protective in certain neurodegenerative diseases but deleterious in cerebral ischemia. The development of new therapeutic strategies based on the manipulation of autophagy will need to take into account these opposing roles of autophagy.
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