Autophagy Modulators: Mechanistic Aspects and Drug Delivery Systems
Shima Tavakol,
Milad Ashrafizadeh,
Shuo Deng,
Maryam Azarian,
Asghar Abdoli,
Mahsa Motavaf,
Delaram Poormoghadam,
Hashem Khanbabaei,
Elham Ghasemipour Afshar,
Ali Mandegary,
Abbas Pardakhty,
Celestial T. Yap,
Reza Mohammadinejad,
Alan Prem Kumar
Affiliations
Shima Tavakol
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran P.O. Box 1449614525, Iran
Milad Ashrafizadeh
Department of basic science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 1455742, Iran
Shuo Deng
Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Maryam Azarian
Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran
Asghar Abdoli
Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran
Mahsa Motavaf
Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran
Delaram Poormoghadam
Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences & Technology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, (IAUPS), Tehran P.O. Box 1916893813, Iran
Hashem Khanbabaei
Medical Physics Department, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 61357-15794, Iran
Elham Ghasemipour Afshar
Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman P.O. Box 7616911319, Iran
Ali Mandegary
Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman P.O. Box 7616911319, Iran
Abbas Pardakhty
Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman P.O. Box 7616911319, Iran
Celestial T. Yap
Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Reza Mohammadinejad
Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman P.O. Box 1355576169, Iran
Alan Prem Kumar
Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117 600, Singapore
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.
