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The role of autophagy in morphogenesis and stem cell maintenance

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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.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Karthik Srirama Satya Divvela, M.Sc. for valuable discussions and support with literature acquisition.

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  1. Department of Anatomy and Molecular Embryology, Institute of Anatomy, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany

    Eric Bekoe Offei & Beate Brand-Saberi

  2. Division of Histology and Embryology, Medical College, Jinan University, No 601 Huangpu Road West, Guangzhou, 510632, People’s Republic of China

    Xuesong Yang

  3. School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 68, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Eric Bekoe Offei

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Correspondence to Beate Brand-Saberi.

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Offei, E.B., Yang, X. & Brand-Saberi, B. The role of autophagy in morphogenesis and stem cell maintenance. Histochem Cell Biol 150, 721–732 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-018-1751-0

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