Macroautophagy: a mechanism for mediating cell death or for promoting cell survival?

Macroautophagy is a ubiquitous mechanism for the bulk removal of macromolecules and cell organelles from the cell. Periyasamy-Thandavan and colleagues report that cisplatin activates autophagy in renal tubular cells and that autophagy plays a role in decreasing apoptosis of tubular cells induced by cisplatin. This finding provides novel evidence that autophagy may play a role in ameliorating the effects of acute injury on the kidney.