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Nature Cell Biology 7, 1056 (1 November 2005) | doi:10.1038/ncb1105-1056

Autophagy: to die or not to die

Myrto Raftopoulou

When extracellular nutrients or growth factors are limited, eukaryotic cells sequester cytoplasmic components into phagosome vesicles to be targeted for lysosomal degradation, in a process known as autophagy. It is unclear, however, whether cells use 'self-digestion' as a means of survival by providing an alternative, intracellular energy source or whether autophagy is yet another cell death pathway, distinct from apoptosis or necrosis.