Life, death and autophagy

Autophagy influences cell survival through maintenance of cell bioenergetics and clearance of protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Several lines of evidence indicate that autophagy is a multifaceted regulator of cell death, but controversy exists over whether autophagy alone can drive cell death under physiologically relevant circumstances. Here, we review the role of autophagy in cell death and examine how autophagy interfaces with other forms of cell death including apoptosis and necrosis.