Adaptive Autophagy Offers Cardiorenal Protection in Rats with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Figure 4

Schematic representation of cardiorenal autophagy response and effect in rats with myocardial infarction. This figure intuitively reflects that autophagy is a dynamic process. After AMI, the heart and kidney are in a state of ischemia and hypoxia. Initially, autophagy responds adaptively to degrade misfolded protein and damaged organelles to protect cells from damage. However, with time prolonging, persistent ischemia and hypoxia lead to autophagy inactivation, and then, the misfolded protein and damaged organelles could not be effectively degraded, thereby accelerating cellular aging and initiating the cell death pathway.