Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
Autophagy in cellular transformation, survival and communication with the tumor microenvironment
1Viral Immunobiology, Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Autophagy describes several metabolic pathways, by which cytoplasmic constituents are imported into lysosomes for degradation. These pathways and in particular macroautophagy play an important role during oncogenesis by apparently inhibiting cellular transformation initially, but then ensuring tumor cell survival in established cancers. Furthermore, the conditioning of the tumor microenvironment, including the cross-talk with the immune system, is influenced by autophagy. These multiple facets of autophagy regulation in tumors will be discussed in the series of review articles of this issue of Seminars in Cancer Biology. A comprehensive understanding of this pathway in oncology is needed to efficiently apply autophagy regulating tumor therapies, which are already in use.
Related Concept Videos
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Cellular Injury V: Apoptosis and Autophagy
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and pro-apoptotic...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...

