Mechanisms of autophagy and apoptosis:Recent developments in breast cancer cells

• 作者: Erwin Knecht Juan M Esteve
• 来源期刊: 世界生物化学杂志：英文版（电子版）
• 学科: 医学
• 关键词: AUTOPHAGY APOPTOSIS Survival BREAST cancer cells Signaling PATHWAYS
• 年，卷（期）: 2011,（10）
• 页码范围: 232-238
• 页数: 7页
• 分类号: R737.9

摘要

Autophagy,the pathway whereby cell components are degraded by lysosomes,is involved in the cell response to environmental stresses,such as nutrient deprivation,hypoxia or exposition to chemotherapeutic agents.Under these conditions,which are reminiscent of certain phases of tumor development,autophagy either promotes cell survival or induces cell death. This strengthens the possibility that autophagy could be an important target in cancer therapy,as has been proposed.Here,we describe the regulation of survival and death by autophagy and apoptosis,especially in cultured breast cancer cells.In particular,we discuss whether autophagy represents an apoptosis-independent process and/or if they share common pathways. We believe that understanding in detail the molecular mechanisms that underlie the relationships between autophagy and apoptosis in breast cancer cells could improve the available treatments for this disease.