Autophagy is a quality control pathway that maintains cellular homeostasis by recycling surplus and dysregulated cell organelles. Identification of selective autophagy receptors demonstrated the existence of pathways that selectively degrade organelles, protein aggregates or pathogens. Interestingly, different types of DNA damage can induce autophagy and autophagy-deficiency leads to genomic instability. Recent studies provided first insights into the pathways that connect autophagy with the DNA damage response. However, the physiological role of autophagy and the identity of its targets after DNA damage remain enigmatic. In this review, we summarize recent literature on the targets of autophagy and mechanisms that lead to its activation after DNA damage, and discuss potential consequences of DNA damage-induced autophagy.

自噬是一种质量控制途径，通过回收过剩和失调的细胞器来维持细胞稳态。选择性自噬受体的鉴定表明存在选择性降解细胞器、蛋白质聚集体或病原体的途径。有趣的是，不同类型的 DNA 损伤可以诱导自噬，而自噬缺陷会导致基因组不稳定。最近的研究提供了关于将自噬与 DNA 损伤反应联系起来的途径的初步见解。然而，自噬的生理作用及其在 DNA 损伤后的靶标仍然是个谜。在这篇综述中，我们总结了最近关于自噬靶点和导致其在 DNA 损伤后激活的机制的文献，并讨论了 DNA 损伤诱导的自噬的潜在后果。