The role of autophagy in morphogenesis and stem cell maintenance

Eric Bekoe Offei, Xuesong Yang, Beate Brand-Saberi

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

During embryonic development, cells need to undergo a number of morphological changes that are decisive for the shaping of the embryo’s body, initiating organogenesis and differentiation into functional tissues. These remodeling processes are accompanied by profound changes in the cell membrane, the cytoskeleton, organelles, and extracellular matrix composition. While considerably detailed insight into the role of autophagy in stem cells biology has been gained in the recent years, information regarding the participation of autophagy in morphogenetic processes is only sparse. This review, therefore, focuses on the role of autophagy in cell morphogenesis through its regulatory activity in TGFβ signaling, expression of adhesion molecules and cell cycle modification. It also discusses the role of autophagy in stem cell maintenance which is very fundamental for cell renewal and replacement during development, pathogenesis of certain diseases and development of therapies. We are thus addressing here perspectives for further potentially rewarding research topics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)721-732
Number of pages12
JournalHistochemistry and Cell Biology
Volume150
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018

Keywords

  • Atg genes
  • Autophagy
  • Cancer
  • EMT
  • Morphogenesis
  • Pluripotent stem cells

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