title: Molecular machinery of autophagy and its implication in cancer.
abstract: Autophagy is an intracellular lysosome-dependent catabolic process that is indispensable for maintaining cellular homeostasis through the turnover and elimination of defective or redundant proteins and damaged or aged organelles. Recent studies suggest that autophagy may be closely associated with tumorigenesis and the response of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. This article reviews recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of autophagy and the role of autophagy in oncogenesis and anticancer therapy. It is paradoxical that autophagy acts as a mechanism for tumor suppression and contributes to the survival of tumors. In addition, whether autophagy in response to chemotherapies results in cell death or instead protects cancer cells from death is complicated, depending on the nature of the cancer and the drug.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive System Tumors, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. Electronic address: liym@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yumin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive System Tumors, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Junqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive System Tumors, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive System Tumors, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Yingtai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive System Tumors, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiangting
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Gansu Provincial People's Hospital, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001343:Autophagy; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases