Autophagy modulation

Autophagy modulation refers to the pharmacological or genetic enhancement or inhibition of the autophagy process, an evolutionarily conserved lysosome-dependent degradation pathway responsible for recycling cellular components and maintaining cellular homeostasis. Rather than denoting a single molecular target, autophagy modulation involves the manipulation of multiple regulatory nodes such as mTOR, AMPK, and the autophagy core machinery (ULK1, Beclin-1, etc.). Therapeutic modulation of autophagy is under investigation in diverse contexts including cancer (where autophagy may have both pro-survival and pro-death effects), neurodegenerative diseases (where enhanced autophagy may clear pathological protein aggregates), infections, and metabolic or cardiovascular diseases. Drug strategies include both autophagy inducers (e.g., mTOR inhibitors, AMPK activators) and inhibitors (e.g., lysosomotropic agents), each with distinct therapeutic potentials and associated risks[1][2][3][4].

Other names

Autophagy regulationAutophagy pathway modulationModulation of autophagy

Autophagy modulation involves various mechanisms including induction of autophagy through mTOR inhibition, induction of autophagy via AMPK activation, inhibition of autophagosome-lysosome fusion, and inhibition of lysosomal acidification.