Autophagy: An Integral Component of the Mammalian Stress Response

Mammalian cells and tissues respond to chemical and physical stress by inducing adaptive or protective mechanisms that prolong survival. Among these, the major stress inducible proteins (heat shock proteins, glucose regulated proteins, heme oxygenase-1) provide cellular protection through protein chaperone and/or anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory functions. In recent years it has become clear that autophagy, a genetically-programmed and evolutionarily-conserved cellular process represents another adaptive response to cellular stress. During autophagy cytosolic material, including organelles, proteins, and foreign pathogens, are sequestered into membrane-bound vesicles termed autophagosomes, and then delivered to the lysosome for degradation. Through recycling of cellular biochemicals, autophagy provides a mechanism for adaptation to starvation. Recent research has uncovered selective autophagic pathways that target distinct cargoes to autophagosomes, including mechanisms for the clearance of aggregated protein, and for the removal of dysfunctional mitochondria (mitophagy). Autophagy can be induced by multiple forms of chemical and physical stress, including endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress, and plays an integral role in the mammalian stress response. Understanding of the interaction and co-regulation of autophagy with other stress-inducible systems will be useful in the design and implementation of therapeutics targeting this pathway.