Table 1.

Role of autophagy in health and development

Biological effects	Cytoprotective
Embryo	Pre-implantation of fertilized oocyte, elimination of maternal mRNAs [15], elimination of paternal mitochondria [16], gastrulation, stem cell differentiation, placental development, organogenesis, differentiation of erythrocytes, adipocytes, lymphocytes [17], neuron [18]
Birth	Nutritional deficiency on initiating sucking. Fetus to neonate transition [5]
Adult	Adaptations to exogenous stimuli (Hormonal, growth factors, cell density loads, nutrient depletion, oxidative stress)
House keeping/quality control	Disposal of misfiled and damaged proteins aggregates [19] and dysfunctional organelles [20]
Nutrient Recycling	Organelle degradation end product–glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and nucleic acids recycling.
Fighting pathogens	Identification of ligands of different bacteria and viruses and engulfing them for degradation.
Immune protective	Thymic selection, Effector of TLR signaling, Effector of Th1/Th2 polarization, Antigen presentation
Longevity	Anti ageing
Defective autophagy	Neurodegenerative diseases-Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Lafora Disease, Lysosomal Diseases
	Cancer
	Liver disease-Hepatocellular carcinoma, Hepatitis, Fibrosis
	Metabolic syndromes-Diabetes, Obesity, pancreatitis
	Infectious disease
	Cardiac and musculoskeletal: Cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart failure, Hypertrophy, ischemia/reperfusion injury, Pompe’s Disease
	Inflammation-Crohn’s Disease