The word autophagy is derived from the Greek roots "auto"(self) and "phagy" (eating) and broadly refers to the cellular catabolic processes, in which cytoplasmic materials are transported to lysosomes for degradation.
Important progress has been achieved in the recent years in defining the role of autophagy in human diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, metabolism disorders, immune-mediated diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, a number of drugs in the clinical trials against cancers, immune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases affect or act through autophagy. It is conceivable that exploring the molecular mechanisms of autophagy opens an avenue for development of novel drugs to treat these devastating diseases.
In order to give a broad picture on recent progress in autophagy research and help deliver a deep insight into autophagy biology and the related disease, Acta Pharmacologica Sinica launched this special issue on "Autophagy and Drug Discovery". As the editors for this special edition, we invited several experts in China and abroad to contribute 13 articles, which cover the important aspects of basic and clinical research on autophagy and reflect on recent developments in this field.

• • May 2013 Special Issue
• • Original articles
  • Perspectives
  • Reviews