Autophagy Modulators: Mechanistic Aspects and Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Autophagy modulation is considered to be a promising programmed cell death mechanism to prevent and cure a great number of disorders and diseases. The crucial step in designing an effective therapeutic approach is to understand the correct and accurate causes of diseases and to understand whether autophagy plays a cytoprotective or cytotoxic/cytostatic role in the progression and prevention of disease. This knowledge will help scientists find approaches to manipulate tumor and pathologic cells in order to enhance cellular sensitivity to therapeutics and treat them. Although some conventional therapeutics suffer from poor solubility, bioavailability and controlled release mechanisms, it appears that novel nanoplatforms overcome these obstacles and have led to the design of a theranostic-controlled drug release system with high solubility and active targeting and stimuli-responsive potentials. In this review, we discuss autophagy modulators-related signaling pathways and some of the drug delivery strategies that have been applied to the field of therapeutic application of autophagy modulators. Moreover, we describe how therapeutics will target various steps of the autophagic machinery. Furthermore, nano drug delivery platforms for autophagy targeting and co-delivery of autophagy modulators with chemotherapeutics/siRNA, are also discussed.

2,3,4′,5-Tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-Glucoside (THSG) Activates the Nrf2 Antioxidant Pathway and Attenuates Oxidative Stress-Induced Cell Death in Mouse Cochlear UB/OC-2 Cells

“…Excess ROS upregulate autophagy to remove proteins and organelles with oxidative damage in the cytoplasm [18][19][20][21]. LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II), a marker for autophagy, is involved in the formation of autophagosome membranes, and autophagosomes might fuse with lysosomes to degrade damaged cytosolic components [22][23][24][25].…”

Multifunctional Polymeric Nanoplatforms for Brain Diseases Diagnosis, Therapy and Theranostics

“…Completed correction of the memory defect in an experimental model of AD [139] PLGA functionalized with OX26-type monoclonal antibody TMZ Cytotoxicity improvement of TMZ [140] PLGA-b-PEG-ascorbic acid Galantamine (GLM) High biodistribution, therapeutic, and sustained action of the drug [141] [44,[163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172]. Among them, polyesters have great potential because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability.…”

“…Synthetic polymers have been widely used for the delivery of bioactive agents and drugs [44,[163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172]. Among them, polyesters have great potential because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability.…”

MicroRNAs as novel targets of sulforaphane in cancer therapy: The beginning of a new tale?

“…So, there is a need for developing new anticancer drugs to be used with conventional and newly introduced anticancer drugs for targeting multiple signaling pathways and making a reduction in the viability of cancer cells. It seems that plant‐derived chemicals with high antitumor activity are of interest due to their minimal side effects and multitargeting (Ashrafizadeh, Ahmadi, Farkhondeh, & Samarghandian, ; Ashrafizadeh et al, ; Ashrafizadeh et al, ; Khoshakhlagh et al, ; Soleimani et al, ; Soleimani et al, ; Tavakol et al, ).…”