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Autophagy and cardiac aging

Shigeki Miyamoto1

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0636, USA. smiyamoto@ucsd.edu.

Cell Death and Differentiation
|January 30, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Autophagy, a cellular recycling process, declines with age in the heart, worsening cardiac aging. Stimulating autophagy may improve heart function and extend lifespan, offering a therapeutic target for age-related heart disease.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Cellular Biology
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence increases with age.
  • Cardiac aging involves hypertrophy, fibrosis, inflammation, and reduced contractility.
  • Autophagy is crucial for cellular homeostasis and declines with age in the heart.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the role and regulation of autophagy in the aging heart.
  • To explore autophagy as a therapeutic target for age-related cardiac dysfunction.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent progress in understanding cardiac autophagy and aging.

Main Results:

  • Cardiac autophagy decreases with age, leading to accumulation of damaged proteins and mitochondria.
  • Inhibition of autophagy exacerbates cardiac aging.
  • Stimulation of autophagy improves cardiac function and increases lifespan in model organisms.

Conclusions:

  • Autophagy plays a critical role in mitigating cardiac aging.
  • Modulating autophagy presents a promising therapeutic strategy for age-related cardiac dysfunction.

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