Natural compounds modulating mitophagy: Implications for cancer therapy

Min Cao, Yancheng Tang, Yufei Luo, Fen Gu, Yuyuan Zhu, Xu Liu, Chenghao Yan, Wei Hu, Shaogui Wang, Xiaojuan Chao, Haodong Xu, Hu Biao Chen, Liming Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cancer is considered as the second leading cause of mortality, and cancer incidence is still growing rapidly worldwide, which poses an increasing global health burden. Although chemotherapy is the most widely used treatment for cancer, its effectiveness is limited by drug resistance and severe side effects. Mitophagy is the principal mechanism that degrades damaged mitochondria via the autophagy/lysosome pathway to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis. Emerging evidence indicates that mitophagy plays crucial roles in tumorigenesis, particularly in cancer therapy. Mitophagy can exhibit dual effects in cancer, with both cancer-inhibiting or cancer-promoting function in a context-dependent manner. A variety of natural compounds have been found to affect cancer cell death and display anticancer properties by modulating mitophagy. In this review, we provide a systematic overview of mitophagy signaling pathways, and examine recent advances in the utilization of natural compounds for cancer therapy through the modulation of mitophagy. Furthermore, we address the inquiries and challenges associated with ongoing investigations concerning the application of natural compounds in cancer therapy based on mitophagy. Overcoming these limitations will provide opportunities to develop novel interventional strategies for cancer treatment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number216590
Number of pages11
JournalCancer Letters
Volume582
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2024

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

User-Defined Keywords

  • Anticancer therapy
  • Apoptosis
  • Cell death
  • Mitophagy
  • Natural compounds

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