Autophagy and renal epithelial transport: eat to survive

Autophagy is an adaptive cellular response to "stress" in which proteins are targeted for lysosomal degradation. Using a combined proteomics and microscopy approach, Khositseth et al. show that autophagy contributes to the downregulation of the water channel aquaporin-2 in response to hypercalcemia. This commentary discusses the role of autophagy in renal epithelial transport, and explores whether autophagy may also contribute to chronic kidney disease once it becomes dysfunctional.