Autophagy and microRNA dysregulation in liver diseases

Autophagy is a catabolic process through which organelles and cellular components are sequestered into autophagosomes and degraded via fusion with lysosomes. Autophagy plays a role in many physiological processes, including stress responses, energy homeostasis, elimination of cellular organelles, and tissue remodeling. In addition, autophagy capacity changes in various disease states. A series of studies have shown that autophagy is strictly controlled to maintain homeostatic balance of energy metabolism and cellular organelle and protein turnover. These studies have also shown that this process is post-transcriptionally controlled by small noncoding microRNAs that regulate gene expression through complementary base pairing with mRNAs. Conversely, autophagy regulates the expression of microRNAs. Therefore, dysregulation of the link between autophagy and microRNA expression exacerbates the pathogenesis of various diseases. In this review, we summarize the roles of autophagy and microRNA dysregulation in the course of liver diseases, with the aim of understanding how microRNAs modify key autophagic effector molecules, and we discuss how this dysregulation affects both physiological and pathological conditions. This article may advance our understanding of the cellular and molecular bases of liver disease progression and promote the development of strategies for pharmacological intervention.