Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 1, 2026
08:44
Activating Autophagy by Aerobic Exercise in Mice
Published on: February 3, 2017
12.9K
Autophagy : Moving Benchside Promises to Patient Bedsides
Amine Belaid, Papa Diogop Ndiaye, Harilaos Filippakis
1Institute of Research on Cancer and Ageing of Nice (IRCAN); Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis; Centre Antoine Lacassagne, Avenue de Valombrose; 06107 Nice Cedex 02, France. mograbi@unice.fr.
Current Cancer Drug Targets
|October 11, 2015
Summary
Targeting autophagy, a cellular process, offers a potential new avenue for cancer therapy. However, its dual role in both suppressing tumor initiation and promoting cancer progression presents significant challenges for therapeutic strategies.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Cellular Biology
- Molecular Medicine
Background:
- Cancer survival rates for metastatic or recurrent disease have stagnated for 30 years, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies.
- Autophagy, a fundamental cellular quality control mechanism, plays a complex and often contradictory role in cancer development and progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the multifaceted roles of autophagy in cancer initiation and progression.
- To discuss the therapeutic potential and challenges of targeting autophagy in cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature review of studies investigating autophagy in various cancer contexts.
- Analysis of experimental data and clinical observations regarding autophagy modulation in cancer.
Main Results:
- Autophagy acts as a tumor suppressor in cancer initiation by clearing damaged components.
- Conversely, autophagy can promote cancer progression, metastasis, relapse, and therapeutic resistance.
Conclusions:
- Targeting autophagy presents a promising, yet complex, therapeutic strategy for cancer.
- Further research is required to overcome the challenges associated with manipulating autophagy for effective cancer therapy.
Related Concept Videos
01:36Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
10.5K
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...
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
10.5K
01:27Autophagy
6.1K
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,...
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
6.1K
01:18Autophagic Cell Death
5.0K
Christian de Duve discovered “autophagy,” a process in which cellular components are engulfed by membrane-bound organelles called autophagosomes. The autophagosomes then fuse with lysosomes to digest the enclosed contents. Autophagy is generally activated in cells to prevent cell death. However, cell death is triggered when the damage is beyond repair.
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
5.0K
01:43The Movement of Organelles and Vesicles
7.2K
In eukaryotic cells, cytoskeletal filaments such as actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments form a mesh-like cytoskeletal network. These filaments serve as tracks for transporting cellular cargo. Specialized motor proteins use the chemical energy stored in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for this transport. During interphase, microtubules are polarized, with the plus-end towards the cell periphery and the minus-end towards the cell center. Two microtubule-associated motor proteins,...
7.2K
00:41Phagocytosis
96.4K
Cells pull particles inward and engulf them in spherical vesicles in an energy-requiring process called endocytosis. Phagocytosis (“cellular eating”) is one of three major types of endocytosis. Cells use phagocytosis to take in large objects—such as other cells (or their debris), bacteria, and even viruses.
96.4K
00:41Phagocytosis
8.9K
Cells pull particles inward and engulf them in spherical vesicles in an energy-requiring process called endocytosis. Phagocytosis ("cellular eating") is one of three major types of endocytosis. Cells use phagocytosis to take in large objects, such as other cells (or their debris), bacteria, and even viruses.
The objective of phagocytosis is often destruction. Cells use phagocytosis to eliminate unwelcome visitors, like pathogens (e.g., viruses and bacteria). Many immune system cells,...
The objective of phagocytosis is often destruction. Cells use phagocytosis to eliminate unwelcome visitors, like pathogens (e.g., viruses and bacteria). Many immune system cells,...
8.9K