Does Autophagy Mediate Cardiac Myocyte Death During Stress?

Although autophagy generally promotes survival of cardiac myocytes, it also promotes death of cardiac myocytes in some conditions. Here we describe how activation of autophagy leads to death of cardiac myocytes, introduce a novel concept of autosis, a unique form of cell death by autophagy, and discuss the functional significance of autophagic cell death in cardiac myocytes.