Autophagy controls programmed death-ligand 1 expression on cancer cells (Review)

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a transmembrane protein mainly located on cancer cells, including renal cell carcinoma, breast, colorectal, gastric and non-small cell lung cancer. PD-L1 binds to the PD-1 receptor expressed on T lymphocytes to inhibit the activation of T lymphocytes, thus allowing tumour cells to escape immune surveillance, leading to tumour growth and the poor prognosis of patients with cancer. Inhibitors targeting the programmed death-1/PD-L1 axis have been widely used in the clinical treatment of a variety of solid tumours in recent years. However, the clinical efficacy of these inhibitors varies. Studies have demonstrated that the effect of the targeted drug is positively associated with the expression of PD-L1 on the tumour membrane. Hence, exploring the mechanism of PD-L1 expression is very important for the treatment of tumours. Autophagy is a physiological process that maintains the stability of the internal environment. Autophagy degrades aging organelles and long-lived proteins and produces nutrients for cell recycling. To the best of our knowledge, the present review is the first to summarize the research that has been conducted on autophagy-regulated PD-L1 expression, which may provide new avenues for tumour immunotherapy.