Review Volume 8, Issue 10 pp 2290—2307
The protective role of Sirt1 in vascular tissue: its relationship to vascular aging and atherosclerosis
Figure 6A. Relationship of autophagy levels to vascular aging and atherosclerosis and the role of Sirt1 in the regulation of autophagy. (A) Basal autophagy and the mild adaptive autophagy response protect vascular cells against vascular aging and atherosclerosis through cellular homeostasis and protective degradation. By contrast, impaired or excessive autophagy leads to senescence, reduced stress resistance, oxidative stress, inflammation or cellular death, resulting in vascular aging and atherosclerosis.