Autophagy is an important constitutive intracellular catalytic process that occurs in basal conditions, as well as during stress in all tissues. It is induced during cellular growth, tissue differentiation and metabolic demands. The regulated expression is cytoprotective while its deregulation leads to varieties of diseases. It plays a vital role in ischemic heart disease, being beneficial and adaptive during ischemia while detrimental and lethal during reperfusion. Reperfusion injury is the consequence of this deregulated autophagy and the motive of its persistence during reperfusion is still obscure. A long standing debate persists as to the dual nature of autophagy and defining its clearer role in cell death as compared to the widely studied process, apoptosis. Despite the progresses in understanding of the process and identification of critical mediators, there is no therapeutic strategy to address its final outcome, the reperfusion injury. This lack of effective therapeutic strategies has even questioned the validity of the process as a single entity. We still continue to witness the devastation with standard cure of reperfusion. In this article, we review the process, highlight reperfusion injury and outline important studies being conducted for the prevention of reperfusion injury and offer cardio-protection.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	autophagy, cardiomyocytes, myocardial ischemia, myocardial reperfusion, Ischemia/reperfusion injury
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Medical physiology
Research Field:	Cell physiology
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other health
Objective Field:	Other health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Zhou, Z (Dr Zhen Zhou)
ID Code:	146595
Year Published:	2014
Web of Science® Times Cited:	35
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2021-09-14
Last Modified:	2021-11-23
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