自噬在青光眼和视网膜退行性病变中的研究进展

Study of progress of autophagy in glaucoma and retinal degeneration

摘要:

自噬是细胞的管家程序，是细胞维持内环境稳定的必需途径。主要通过移除错误折叠的蛋白和损伤的细胞器来实现目的。自噬途径涉及到人体多种疾病，包括肿瘤、神经退行性疾病以及传染性疾病。神经退行性疾病与许多眼部疾病的病理机制密切相关，比如青光眼以及年龄相关性黄斑病变。此外，眼内细胞持续暴露于各种应激因子中，可导致自噬的发生，自噬通过回收利用代谢前体细胞，或者促进受损细胞的死亡来提高整体存活率。自噬与凋亡也被证实在不同的实验环境中存在协同和拮抗作用，而这一切与许多疾病的病理机制息息相关。本文对自噬的机制及调控进行了回顾，并总结了较新的有关青光眼中视网膜神经元自噬的理论以及运用自噬的治疗手段。

Abstract:

Autophagy, a cellular housekeeping process, is indispensable to controlling the homeostasis of cytoplasm by removing unused proteins and damaged cell organelles. This process involves different types of human diseases, including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases. Neurodegeneration is a critical pathological process of many eye diseases, such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. The retina and all intraocular cells are constantly exposed to environmental stress and injuries, including oxidative stress and starvation, which lead to autophagy. Autophagy promotes cell survival through the recycling of metabolic precursors, or promotes cell death if autophagy is over-active. Additionally, autophagy and apoptosis have been shown to be harmonious or contrasting, depending on different experimental contexts. All of this contributes to the pathogenesis of many diseases. This paper reviews the mechanisms and regulation involved in autophagy, current understandings of neuronal autophagy in glaucoma and retina and strategies for therapeutic modulation.