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Related Concept Videos

Metastasis02:30

Metastasis

Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from the original site to distant locations in the body. Cancer cells can spread via blood vessels (hematogenous) as well as lymph vessels in the body.
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Metastasis02:30

Metastasis

Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from the original site to distant locations in the body. Cancer cells can spread via blood vessels (hematogenous) as well as lymph vessels in the body.
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome01:36

Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome

Eukaryotic cells use different mechanisms to eliminate toxic waste obsolete and worn-out substances. Lysosomes play a pivotal role in this, and hence, these substances are carried to the lysosome from other parts of the cell and extracellular space through different pathways. The most elaborately studied pathways to the lysosome are the endocytic pathways.
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Autophagy01:27

Autophagy

Autophagy is a self-digesting process by which a cell protects itself from threats both within and outside the cell, ranging from abnormal proteins to invading bacteria. In this process, obsolete components of the cell and invading microbes are degraded by hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment of the lysosomal lumen.
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...

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Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
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Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy

Published on: January 31, 2025

Autophagy and metastasis: another double-edged sword.

Candia M Kenific1, Andrew Thorburn, Jayanta Debnath

  • 1Department of Pathology and Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, CA, United States. Candia.Kenific@ucsf.edu

Current Opinion in Cell Biology
|December 1, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Autophagy, a cellular stress response, has a dual role in cancer metastasis. It can suppress tumor spread by aiding inflammation or restricting growth, but may also promote metastasis by increasing cancer cell survival under stress.

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Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cellular Biology
  • Cancer Metastasis

Background:

  • Tumor cells must adapt to stressful microenvironments for metastasis.
  • Autophagy, a cellular self-digestion process, is upregulated during stress.
  • The role of autophagy in metastasis is currently unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of autophagy on cancer metastasis.
  • To explore the potential prometastatic and antimetastatic roles of autophagy.

Main Methods:

  • The study discusses the known functions and potential roles of autophagy in the context of cellular stress and metastasis.
  • It reviews how autophagy might inhibit or promote tumor cell dissemination and colonization.

Main Results:

  • Autophagy may inhibit metastasis by promoting anti-tumor immunity or limiting dormant tumor cell expansion.
  • Autophagy may promote metastasis by enhancing tumor cell survival against stresses like anoikis.
  • Autophagy's function in metastasis is context-dependent and titratable.

Conclusions:

  • Autophagy exhibits a dual role in cancer metastasis, acting as both a prometastatic and antimetastatic factor.
  • The specific function of autophagy depends on the cellular and environmental demands during the metastatic process.