The Role of Autophagy in the Female Reproduction System: For Beginners to Experts in This Field
Akitoshi Nakashima, Atsushi Furuta, Kiyotaka Yamada, Mihoko Yoshida‐Kawaguchi, Akemi Yamaki‐Ushijima, Ippei Yasuda, Masami Ito, Satoshi Yamashita, Sayaka Tsuda, Satoshi Yoneda, Shi‐Bin Cheng, Surendra Sharma, Tomoko Shima
Abstract
Autophagy is a fundamental process involved in regulating cellular homeostasis. Autophagy has been classically discovered as a cellular process that degrades cytoplasmic components non-selectively to produce energy. Over the past few decades, this process has been shown to work in energy production, as well as in the reduction of excessive proteins, damaged organelles, and membrane trafficking. It contributes to many human diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, carcinogenesis, diabetes mellitus, development, longevity, and reproduction. In this review, we provide important information for interpreting results related to autophagic experiments and present the role of autophagy in this field.