Physiological and pathological significance of the molecular cross-talk between autophagy and apoptosis

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Autophagy and apoptosis are two important molecular mechanisms that maintain cellular homeostasis under stress conditions. Autophagy represents an intracellular mechanism responsible for turnover of organelles and long-lived proteins through a lysosome-dependent degradation pathway. Cell death signals or sustained stress might trigger programmed cell death pathways, and among them, apoptosis is the most extensively studied one. Recent studies indicate the presence of a complex interplay between autophagy and apoptosis. Physiological relevance of autophagy-apoptosis crosstalk was mainly shown in vitro. However, in vivo consequences possibly exist both during health and disease. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge about molecular mechanisms connecting autophagy and apoptosis, and about the significance of this crosstalk for human health.