细胞自噬是细胞利用溶酶体进行自身降解的生物学过程,是一种进化上高度保守的分解代谢过程,对于维持细胞稳态起着重要作用.血管钙化是广泛存在于动脉粥样硬化、糖尿病、终末期肾病等多种疾病中的共同病理表现,是影响心血管疾病死亡率的独立危险因素,目前尚缺乏有效的治疗手段.近年来发现血管平滑肌细胞(VSMCs)自噬可通过调节其降解活动及平滑肌细胞的成骨样分化,从而在调控血管钙化中发挥重要作用.本文就VSMCs自噬与血管钙化的最新研究进展做一综述.“,”Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolisml process of self-degradation responsible for maintaining cellular homeostasis.Vascular calcification is common in many diseases such as atherosclerosis,diabetes and end-stage renal disease,which is a major risk factor of cardiovascular mortality.Today the effective therapy for vascular calcification is still unavailable.Recent studies indicate that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) autophagy may play an important role in vascular calcification by regulating the activity of self-degradation and the transdifferentiation process of VSMCs to osteogenic phenotype.This article briefly reviews the recent advances between VSMCs autophagy and vascular calcification.