Anatomy & Physiology: Current Research
Open Access

Abstract

Leptin and Autophagy: When the Two Masters Meet

Peter Ishola, Elizabeth Greene, Phuong Nguyen, Walter Bottje, Mark Cline, Nicholas Anthony and Sami Dridi

Autophagy or cellular self-digestion, a lysosomal degradation pathway that is conserved from yeast to human, plays a key role in recycling cellular constituents, including damaged organelles. It also plays a pivotal role in the adaptation of cells to a plethora of distinct stressors including starvation. Leptin is an adipocytokine that is mostly produced by white adipose cells in mammals and functions as a hormonal sensing mechanism to inhibit feed intake and increase energy expenditure. In this review, we will describe the autophagy and leptin systems and summarized recent advances regarding their interactions in the regulation of energy homeostasis.