Artificial Peptides as Autophagy Modulators

Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Its dysregulation is implicated in various diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and infections, making precise modulation of autophagy a potentially promising therapeutic strategy. Artificial peptide-based autophagy modulators have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional small molecules, offering several advantages in terms of specificity, biocompatibility, and functional versatility. This review summarizes recent advances in artificial peptide-based autophagy monitoring tools, autophagy inducers, and autophagy inhibitors.