Background The survival ratio of implanted mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） in the infarcted myocardium is low.Autophagy is a complex self-eating process and can be utilized for cell survival. We have found that atorvastatin （ATV）can effectively activate autophagy to enhance MSCs survival during hypoxia and serum deprivation （H/SD）. The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase （MEK/ERK） pathway is a non-canonical autophagy pathway.We hypothesized that the MEK/ERK pathway mediated ATV-induced autophagy of MSCs under H/SD.
