Abstract
Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic process involving autolysosomal degradation of cellular components, including protein aggregates, damaged organelles (such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and others), as well as various pathogens. Thus, the autophagy pathway represents a major adaptive response for the maintenance of cellular and tissue homeostasis in response to numerous cellular stressors. A growing body of evidence suggests that autophagy is closely associated with diverse human diseases. Specifically, acute lung injury (ALI) and inflammatory responses caused by bacterial infection or xenobiotic inhalation (e.g., chlorine and cigarette smoke) have been reported to involve a spectrum of alterations in autophagy phenotypes. The role of autophagy in pulmonary infection and inflammatory diseases could be protective or harmful dependent on the conditions. In this review, we describe recent advances regarding the protective features of autophagy in pulmonary diseases, with a focus on ALI, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tuberculosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and cystic fibrosis.
Highlights
Macroautophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process by which intracellular materials are sequestered by double-membrane autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation and recycling in various physiological and pathological conditions [1]
This study suggests that the role of autophagy in cecal ligation puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis might depend on the autophagic flux: the preservation of autophagic flux is cytoprotective to sepsis, while autophagosome accumulation due to impaired autophagic flux may contribute to lung injury in the late stage of sepsis
Accumulating evidence demonstrates that autophagy is involved in the regulation of diverse biological functions, such as inflammatory response, redox balance, DNA damage repair, apoptosis, and necroptosis in different cell types in the lung, and plays crucial roles in pulmonary infection and inflammatory diseases, including acute lung injury (ALI), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tuberculosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), Cystic Fibrosis (CF), etc. (Figure 2)
Summary
Macroautophagy ( referred to as autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved process by which intracellular materials are sequestered by double-membrane autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation and recycling in various physiological and pathological conditions [1]. Acute or chronic exposure to these harmful agents can cause damage to the lung, resulting in respiratory dysfunction and pulmonary diseases [6,7] Both acute lung injury (ALI) and chronic pulmonary diseases are associated with high morbidity and mortality with limited effective therapeutics, representing major public health problems worldwide [7,8]. In coping with these outside threats, the lung has evolved various defense mechanisms (such as innate and adaptive immune responses) to maintain its normal function. We will summarize the current knowledge of the protective features of autophagy in pulmonary infection and inflammatory diseases, and discuss the perspective of targeting autophagy for the clinical intervention for lung diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
