Autophagy as new emerging cellular effect of nanomaterials

The biosafety issue of nanoscale materials is getting more and more attention with their increasing manufacture and application. In the research of cellular effects and underlying mechanisms related to toxicity of nanomaterials, most emphasis were placed on processes such as apoptosis, metabolic inhibition and oxidative stress. Recent evidence suggests that autophagy is part of the biological effects by nanomaterials and various kinds of nanomaterials are capable of disturbing the autophagic process. This review will highlight the importance of autophagy as an emerging mechanism of nanomaterial toxicity and the implication in the therapy of autophagy-related diseases. We summarize current research status of interaction between nanomaterials and autophagic pathways. It is of note that nanomaterials can either induce or block autophagy, which result in similar phenotype but completely different biological consequence. It is therefore important to perform comprehensive analysis of the whole autophagic flux in the future research. autophagy, nanomaterials, cytotoxicity, cellular effect