FIGURE 6.

The protective effects of autophagy on cardiovascular diseases. Autophagy is essential for maintaining the intracellular homeostasis of cardiomyocytes under both basal and stress conditions. In response to cardiac ischemia/reperfusion, autophagy acts as a survival mechanism for replenishment of metabolic substrates and removal of damaged organelle such as damaged mitochondria. Impairment of autophagy results in cardiomyocyte cell death and exacerbates ischemia/reperfusion injury. Dysregulation of autophagy is also related to other cardiovascular diseases such as cardiac hypertrophy and dilated cardiomyopathy