Autophagy as a molecular target for cancer treatment

TY - JOUR

T1 - Autophagy as a molecular target for cancer treatment

AU - Kocaturk, Nur Mehpare

AU - Akkoc, Yunus

AU - Kig, Cenk

AU - Bayraktar, Oznur

AU - Gozuacik, Devrim

AU - Kutlu, Ozlem

N1 - This work was supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)-1001 Grant number: 114Z836 . YA is supported by TUBITAK-BIDEB 2211 Scholarships for his PhD studies. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2019/6/15

Y1 - 2019/6/15

N2 - Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic mechanism, by which eukaryotic cells recycle or degrades internal constituents through membrane-trafficking pathway. Thus, autophagy provides the cells with a sustainable source of biomolecules and energy for the maintenance of homeostasis under stressful conditions such as tumor microenvironment. Recent findings revealed a close relationship between autophagy and malignant transformation. However, due to the complex dual role of autophagy in tumor survival or cell death, efforts to develop efficient treatment strategies targeting the autophagy/cancer relation have largely been unsuccessful. Here we review the two-faced role of autophagy in cancer as a tumor suppressor or as a pro-oncogenic mechanism. In this sense, we also review the shared regulatory pathways that play a role in autophagy and malignant transformation. Finally, anti-cancer therapeutic agents used as either inhibitors or inducers of autophagy have been discussed.

AB - Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic mechanism, by which eukaryotic cells recycle or degrades internal constituents through membrane-trafficking pathway. Thus, autophagy provides the cells with a sustainable source of biomolecules and energy for the maintenance of homeostasis under stressful conditions such as tumor microenvironment. Recent findings revealed a close relationship between autophagy and malignant transformation. However, due to the complex dual role of autophagy in tumor survival or cell death, efforts to develop efficient treatment strategies targeting the autophagy/cancer relation have largely been unsuccessful. Here we review the two-faced role of autophagy in cancer as a tumor suppressor or as a pro-oncogenic mechanism. In this sense, we also review the shared regulatory pathways that play a role in autophagy and malignant transformation. Finally, anti-cancer therapeutic agents used as either inhibitors or inducers of autophagy have been discussed.

KW - Autophagy

KW - Cancer

KW - Therapeutic agents

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85064667322

U2 - 10.1016/j.ejps.2019.04.011

DO - 10.1016/j.ejps.2019.04.011

M3 - Article

C2 - 30981885

AN - SCOPUS:85064667322

SN - 0928-0987

VL - 134

SP - 116

EP - 137

JO - European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

JF - European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

ER -