Cellular Mechanisms Involved in Luteolysis

Regression of the mammalian corpus luteum is commonly thought to involve autophagy (cellular self-digestion), but few studies have focused on these mechanisms, and their actual importance in luteolysis thus remains uncertain.

Abstract

Regression of the mammalian corpus luteum is commonly thought to involve autophagy (cellular self-digestion) or heterophagy (removal of cells by macrophages), or both. However, few studies have focused on these mechanisms, and their actual importance in luteolysis thus remains uncertain. Moreover, studies dealing with these topics have often come to differing conclusions; e.g., van Lennep and Madden (1) reported that autophagy was probably only a minor component in the overall process of involution in humans, whereas it was proposed in a study on sheep that autophagy played a substantial role in the destruction of luteal tissue (2).