Myocardial stress and autophagy: mechanisms and potential therapies

Autophagy is a ubiquitous cellular catabolic process responsive to energy stress. Activation of autophagy is cardioprotective in some settings (ischaemia and ischaemic preconditioning), but sustained autophagy has been linked with cardiopathology in other settings (prolonged pressure overload and heart failure). In this Review, induction of autophagy associated with cardiac benefit or detriment is considered, and prospects for pharmacological intervention are discussed.