[Recent progress in smooth muscle autophagy of vascular diseases]

Autophagy plays a crucial role in maintaining normal structure and vascular function in vivo. When stress-relevant stimuli are involved, the increases of autophagy can protect vascular smooth muscle cells, promote cell survival, and phenotype transformation, as well as reduce calcification. On the contrary, the decrease of autophagy can accelerate cell senescence, resulting in structural changes and dysfunction of vasomotor and vasodilation. However, excessive activation of autophagy can induce the damage of the healthy protein and essential organelles, and even lead to autophagic cell death, accelerating the progression of vascular disease. Thus, the precise targeting of autophagy opens a novel way for treatment of vascular diseases.