I. Role of Mitochondria and the Bcl‐2 Family Proteins in Autophagy

6 ____________________________________________________________________________autophagicmachinery can be also recruited to kill cells under certain conditions generating a caspase‐independent form of programed cell death (PCD), named autophagic cell death. Due to increasing interest in nonapoptotic PCD forms and the development of mammalian genetic tools to study autophagy, autophagic cell death has achieved major prominence, and is recognized now as a legitimate alternative death pathway to apoptosis. This chapter aims at summarizing the recent data in the field of autophagy signaling and autophagic cell death. 2007, Elsevier Inc. Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Vol. 78 0070-2153/07 $35.00 Copyright 2007, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 217 DOI: 10.1016/S0070-2153(06)78006-1intrac contiellular building blocks and substrates for energy generation to enabl