| Autophagy is a normal physiological process, which is known as transported intracellular damaged protein to the lysosomal degradation. Autophagy can protect against the adverse environment, it plays an important role in a variety diseases. In recent years, a large number of studies have shown that autophagy has a dual role in cell metabolism and physiological functions. Under normal circumstances, autophagy acts as a protective mechanism, but constant autophagy activation, which cause a large number of protein degradation and cells can not maintain their basic structure, will eventually lead to cell necrosis or apoptosis. The conversion of autophgy, apoptosis and necrosis is regulated by p53, Bcl-2, Beclin-1, ATG5, TG2 and p62 signaling molecules. Liver and heart are the vital organs, which maintain life activities. Autophagy plays an important role in liver and heart diseases such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, myocardial infarction and heart failure. This paper summarizes the relationship among autophagy, apoptosis and necrosis, and introduces the fuction of autophagy in liver and heart diseases. |
