Other Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Autophagy

Abstract

Autophagy is a catabolic process in eukaryotic cells that delivers cytoplasmic components and organelles to the lysosomes for digestion. It is thought that various environmental signaling pathways are somehow integrated with autophagy signaling, such as the lack of nutrients (amino acids or glucose or others), changes in pH or osmotic pressure. Autophagy has been seen as an adaptive response to stress. In the extreme cases of starvation, the breakdown of cellular components promotes survival by maintaining cellular energy levels. A series of studies have found that the signaling pathway regulating autophagy is very complex. In addition to 40 autophagy-related genes (ATG) involved in the formation of autophagosomes, there are many other transcription factors that participated in the regulation of autophagy. This chapter focuses on the role of FoxO, NFκB, E2F and TFEB in autophagy.