[Physiological and pathophysiological function of myocardial autophagy]

Autophagy is a fundamental catabolism process widely existing in organisms, through which intracellular components such as long-lived proteins and organelles can be degraded. A certain degree of autophagy is a kind of endogenous protective mechanism, participating in adaptive immune response. Insufficient or excessive autophagy will disturb cell homeostasis, aggravate or cause cell death. Numerous studies demonstrate a marked increase in cardiac autophagic activity under a wide range of disease states and in response to diverse stimuli. Recently, despite of its dual nature, autophagy has been widely promoted as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and heart failure. In the current report, we review research progresses on the physiological and pathophysiological function and the molecular mechanism of cardiac autophgy, so as to find new methods for the heart diseases treatment.