Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2015, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (20): 3236-3241.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2015.20.023

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Autophagy effects on chondrocyte survival and cartilage damage

Zhang Xie-zhuo, Xu Chao, Yilihamu Tuoheti   

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830063, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
  • Online:2015-05-14 Published:2015-05-14
  • Contact: Yilihamu Tuoheti, M.D., Chief physician, Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830063, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
  • About author:Zhang Xie-zhuo, Studying for master’s degree, Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830063, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
  • Supported by:

    the Science and Technology Support Project of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, No. 200991265

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Autophagy is the cellular process of lysosomal pathway processing by endogenous substrates, which exists in the body cells and has been considered as type II programmed cell death. Autophagy may be a protective or balancing mechanism of normal chondrocytes.
OBJECTIVE: To discuss the latest research progress in autophagy and cartilage damage aiming to better understanding the role of autophagy in cartilage damage and repair.
METHODS: A computer-based search of CNKI, Wanfang database and PubMed database was performed for articles relevant to autophagy and cartilage damage published in recent 20 years with the key words of “autophagy, cartilage, chondrocytes, beclin1, LC3” in Chinese and English.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Intra-articular chondrocytes can response to the changes in the microenvironment so as to adjust the extracellular matrix metabolism and maintain the biological function of  
articular cartilage. Hypoxic environment in which chondrocytes eixt is an important factor to causes autophagy. Autophagy is a normal balance or protection mechanism of chondrocytes. Studies on the correlation of autophagy with cartilage damage have made considerable progress in recent years, but still in its infancy. Atg discovery at the molecular level deepens the understanding of autophagy, but the induction of cartilage autophagy pathway, signal transduction, and their effects on the survival of chondrocytes are not clear yet, which need further studies.

Key words:  Autophagy, Cartilage, Chondrocytes

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