Selective Autophagy: A Potential Player in Cutaneous Wound Healing

Refractory wounds are complicated multistep biological processes that can lead to severe complications in patients. Selective autophagy plays a crucial role in precisely controlling the quality of intracellular components and regulating biological behavior. This review explores the features and underlying mechanisms of various types of selective autophagy and highlights their implications in burn injury and wound healing.

In-depth studies have underscored the critical role of selective autophagy, including mitophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-phagy, pexophagy, xenophagy, lysophagy, ferritinophagy, and lipophagy, in effectively controlling the quality of intracellular components and regulating biological behavior, which may enhance wound-healing process.

Autophagy is a housekeeping and self-renewal process that utilizes lysosomal machinery to degrade and recycle cellular components, thereby enhancing cellular adaptability to stressful conditions. In addition to nonselective bulk degradation, autophagy selectively recycles specific cell constituents, including mitochondria, ER, peroxisomes, pathogens, lysosomes, lipid droplets, and ferritin. The effective management of the quality of cellular components during wound healing remains a challenge in clinical practice.

Understanding the basic mechanisms and intricate crosstalk underlying selective autophagy may facilitate the development of comprehensive strategies and therapeutic targets for wound healing.