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A role for lipophagy in atherosclerosis

Nature Reviews Cardiology volume 20, pages 431–432 (2023)Cite this article

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Lipophagy is a type of selective autophagy that targets lipid droplets for degradation. Since the discovery of lipophagy in 2009, research has uncovered a central role for this process in cellular lipid metabolism, including in atherogenic foam cells. Therefore, increasing lipophagy might be a therapeutic target to reverse lipid build-up in atherosclerosis.

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Fig. 1: Macrolipophagy and microlipophagy pathways.

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Acknowledgements

The authors were supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (PJT-391187 and Canada Research Chair to M.O.), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant to M.O.), and a University of Ottawa Cardiac Endowment Fellowship (to T.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Thomas Laval & Mireille Ouimet

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Thomas Laval & Mireille Ouimet

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  1. Thomas Laval
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  2. Mireille Ouimet
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Correspondence to Mireille Ouimet.

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Laval, T., Ouimet, M. A role for lipophagy in atherosclerosis. Nat Rev Cardiol 20, 431–432 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-023-00885-z

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