Autophagy Research: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Within this white paper authored by Dr. Noboru Mizushima of the University of Tokyo, he describes the current state of autophagy research and future areas of research and drug discovery. Among other topics, he discusses the impact of the discovery of ATG genes in autophagy research, the role of autophagy in diseases such as Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as the development of therapeutics that target the autophagy pathway.

Dr. Noboru Mizushima of the University of Tokyo is a leading researcher in autophagy whose work has been published in more than 150 journals. He discovered the ATG12 conjugation system which is a protein that plays an important role in proper autophagy functioning. He has also published research on how autophagy deficient mice have greater incidences of tumor development and Parkinson’s disease. He has also collaborated with Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi, the 2016 Nobel prize winner in medicine for his work in the study of autophagy.