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Comment
. 2007 Dec 14;131(6):1032-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2007.11.027.

Autophagy and cell death: no longer at odds

Affiliations
Comment

Autophagy and cell death: no longer at odds

Andreas Bergmann. Cell. .

Abstract

Autophagy has been associated with both cell survival and cell death, but the role of autophagy in cell death has been controversial. In this issue, Berry and Baehrecke (2007) report that autophagy is involved in physiological cell death during Drosophila development and is controlled by similar mechanisms as those that control its function in cell survival.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Cellular Responses to Different Environmental Conditions
The cellular response is highlighted in red. Active factors are in black and inactive factors in gray. (Left) In normal, growing cells, insulin promotes cell growth and inhibits autophagy through class I PI3K, Akt, and TOR signaling. (Middle) In starving cells, PI3K, Akt, and TOR are not activated; thus, autophagy is derepressed. (Right) Autophagic cell death of salivary glands is under control of the steroid hormone ecdysone, which induces expression of autophagic atg genes and apoptotic components such as caspases. Because salivary glands die during pupariation when the animals stop feeding, growth arrest occurs and blocks PI3K, Akt, and TOR activity.

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References

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