Autophagy: Executor and Manager of Programmed Cell Death

Autophagy is a degradation mechanism involved in quality and quantity control of cytoplasmic proteins and organelles,regarded as a programmed cell death juxtaposed with apoptosis and necrosis.Unravelled correlations between autophagy,apoptosis and necrosis,however,suggest that autophagy may be a manager of programme cell death,and determine whether cell death occurs and selection of death pathways in response to stress.Revealing molecular mechanism of autophagy contributes to understand these seemingly contradictory views.Elucidation of autophagy′s role in programmed cell death has important practical significance for treating tumor.