title: Autophagy-induced tumor dormancy in ovarian cancer.
abstract: Autophagy--a process of "self-eating" that involves enzymatic digestion and recycling of cellular constituents in response to stress--contributes to both cancer cell death and survival. In this issue of the JCI, Lu et al. report that controlled induction of tumor suppressor gene aplasia Ras homolog member I (ARHI) results in autophagic cell death of human ovarian cancer cells in vitro (see the related article beginning on page 3917). However, within xenograft tumors in mice, multiple factors within the tumor microenvironment switched ARHI-induced autophagy to a mechanism of tumor cell survival, leading to tumor dormancy. Since ARHI expression is suppressed in the majority of breast and ovarian cancers but is high in premalignant lesions, ARHI-induced autophagy could be manipulated for therapeutic benefit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. ravi.amaravadi@uphs.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Ravi K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Amaravadi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000494:pharmacology; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018392:Genomic Imprinting / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D002738:Chloroquine; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D011494:Protein Kinases; D020123:Sirolimus; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins; C117386:DIRAS3 protein, human; C477012:MAP1LC3A protein, human; C546842:MTOR protein, human; C546843:mTOR protein, mouse