Recent advances in organelle-specific autophagy in melanoma

Abstract

Organelle-specific autophagy, the selective degradation of distinct cellular organelles, plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis and progression of various diseases, including melanoma. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent advances in organelle-specific autophagy in melanoma, focusing on key processes such as mitophagy, reticulophagy, lysophagy, nucleophagy, pexophagy, and ribophagy. Emerging evidence highlights the roles these autophagic pathways play in melanoma development, with each process contributing uniquely to tumor cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and resistance to therapy. Mitophagy, for example, can both support tumor growth by enhancing mitochondrial quality and suppress it by inducing cell death. Similarly, ER stress exhibits a dual regulatory role, promoting either drug resistance or apoptosis depending on the context, with reticulophagy playing a critical role in modulating these effects. These findings emphasize the importance of further exploring organelle-specific autophagy as both a potential therapeutic target and a prognostic biomarker in melanoma. This research holds significant promise for the development of novel clinical strategies aimed at improving patient outcomes.