After being subject to ischemic, toxic or immunological damage, kidney cells must adapt to their surroundings and maintain the necessary metabolism to avoid cell death. In this adaptation process, autophagy can coordinate multiple intracellular and extracellular triggering mechanisms (nutritive or immune stimulation) to regulate cell viability, innate and acquired immune function. The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature on autophagy published in the field of kidney transplantation to explore future research directions.

Autophagy; Injury; Immunity; Kidney transplantation; Stress