title: Deconvoluting the relationships between autophagy and metastasis for potential cancer therapy.
abstract: Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosome-dependent degradation process that may digest some long-lived proteins and damaged organelles. As an essential homeostasis maintaining system in normal cells, autophagy plays a key role in several pathological settings, especially cancer. Metastasis, known as a crucial hallmark of cancer progression, is the primary cause of cancer lethality. The role of autophagy in metastasis is quite complex as supportive evidence has indicated both pro-metastatic and anti-metastatic functions of autophagy. Autophagy can inhibit metastasis by restricting necrosis and mediating autophagic cell death, whereas it may also promote metastasis by enhancing cancer cell fitness in response to stress. Moreover, the function of autophagy is context- and stage-dependent. Specifically, during the early steps of metastasis, autophagy mainly serves as a suppressor, while it plays a pro-metastatic role in the later steps. Here, we focus on highlighting the dual roles of autophagy in metastasis and address the molecular mechanisms involved in this process, which may provide a new insight into cancer biology. While, we also summarize several anti-metastatic agents manipulating autophagy, in the hope of shedding light on exploration of potential novel drugs for future cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.|School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, China.
authors.forename: Dahong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Peiqi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.|School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China. leilei_fu@163.com.
authors.forename: Leilei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China. ouyangliang@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, China.
authors.forename: Jinhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Anti-metastatic agent; Autophagy; Cancer therapy; Metastasis