Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2015, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (10): 56-61.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2015.10.012

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress on Cell Autophagy Induced by Cadmium

Wang Qiwen1, 3, Song Derong2, Liu Qichang2, Zhou Darong2, Peng Hua2, Zhang Qiongdi2, Luo Yao2   

  1. 1.Co-constructed State Key Laboratory for Cell Differentiation and Regulation by Henan Province and Ministry of Science Technology, College of Life Science, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007; 2. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Institute of Bijie City, Bijie 551700; 3. Guizhou University of Engineering Science, Bijie 551700
  • Received:2015-01-15 Online:2015-10-28 Published:2015-10-28

Abstract: Cadmium, a highly toxic heavy metal, has been proven to be hazard for both human health and environment. Growing evidences have confirmed that cadmium caused damages to multiple organs and systems, and even led to cancer and tumors. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal pathway of degrading cytoplasmic proteins and organelles. On the one hand, autophagy represents a cell survival mechanism to clear damaged organelles for preventing the cells from the further damages induced by cadmium; on the other hand, it may lead to cell death as cell death mechanism while the damage to the cell is irreversible. It is found that the role of autophagy in cadmium-induced cytotoxicity is still controversial, which might be caused from the variations on concentration and exposure time of cadmium. Current investigations on the mechanism of autophagy are mainly focusing on signal molecules of mTOR, Ca2+ and Beclin-1. Studies of the molecular mechanism between cadmium and autophagy can provide new ideas for the treatment and prevention of cadmium poisoning. This review summarizes the role of autophagy in cytotoxicity and signaling pathways in the autophagy induced by cadmium.

Key words: cadmium, autophagy, survival, death, signaling pathway