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Review
. 2024 May 11;13(10):825.
doi: 10.3390/cells13100825.

The Role of Autophagy in Vascular Endothelial Cell Health and Physiology

Meghan Hu  1 , Joseph M Ladowski  1 , He Xu  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Autophagy in Vascular Endothelial Cell Health and Physiology

Meghan Hu et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular recycling process which enables eukaryotes to maintain both cellular and overall homeostasis through the catabolic breakdown of intracellular components or the selective degradation of damaged organelles. In recent years, the importance of autophagy in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) has been increasingly recognized, and numerous studies have linked the dysregulation of autophagy to the development of endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease. Here, we provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms underlying autophagy in ECs and our current understanding of the roles of autophagy in vascular biology and review the implications of dysregulated autophagy for vascular disease. Finally, we summarize the current state of the research on compounds to modulate autophagy in ECs and identify challenges for their translation into clinical use.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; autophagy; endothelial cells; inflammation; mitophagy; therapeutics; vascular disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of nonselective autophagy and mitophagy—a schematic depicting the major steps in the process of mitochondrial-focused macroautophagy and selective mitophagy. The figure was generated using BioRender.com and is modified from a template provided by BioRender.com and previously published by Hansen et al. [13].
Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of nonselective autophagy and mitophagy—a schematic depicting the major steps in the process of mitochondrial-focused macroautophagy and selective mitophagy. The figure was generated using BioRender.com and is modified from a template provided by BioRender.com and previously published by Hansen et al. [13].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mechanisms of external mechanical forces in inducing endothelial autophagy. Potential mechanisms of disturbed shear stress and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) resulting in dysregulation of vascular endothelial autophagy and upregulation of LC3-II, nitric oxide (NO) production, and autophagy-related genes. Overall, these factors are thought to be potential mechanisms leading to pathologic angiogenesis, accelerated atherosclerotic plaque development, and microvascular tissue injury.
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