life Review The Role of Autophagy in Eye Diseases José A. Fernández-Albarral 1 , Esther de Julián-López 1, Carmen Soler-Domínguez 1, Rosa de Hoz 1,2,3 , Inés López-Cuenca 1 , Elena Salobrar-García 1,2,3 , José M. Ramírez 1,2,4 , María D. Pinazo-Durán 2,5, Juan J. Salazar 1,2,3,* and Ana I. Ramírez 1,2,3,* 1 Instituto de Investigaciones Oftalmológicas Ramón Castroviejo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] (J.A.F.-A.);
[email protected] (E.d.J.-L.);
[email protected] (C.S.-D.);
[email protected] (R.d.H.);
[email protected] (I.L.-C.);
[email protected] (E.S.-G.);
[email protected] (J.M.R.) 2 OFTARED: Spanish net of Ophthalmic Pathology, Institute of Health Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] 3 Departamento de Inmunología, Facultad de Óptica y Optometría, Oftalmología y ORL, UCM, 28037 Madrid, Spain 4 Departamento de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina, Oftalmología y ORL. UCM, 28040 Madrid, Spain 5 Ophthalmic Research Unit “Santiago Grisolía”-FISABIO and Cellular and Molecular Ophthalmobiology Unit, University of Valencia, 46017 Valencia, Spain * Correspondence:
[email protected] (J.J.S.);
[email protected] (A.I.R.) Abstract: Autophagy is a catabolic process that ensures homeostasis in the cells of our organism. It plays a crucial role in protecting eye cells against oxidative damage and external stress factors. Ocular pathologies of high incidence, such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are of multifactorial origin and are associated with genetic, environmental factors, age, and oxidative stress, among others; the latter factor is one of the most influential in ocular Citation: Fernández-Albarral, J.A.; diseases, directly affecting the processes of autophagy activity.