Antidepressants as Autophagy Modulators for Cancer Therapy
Leping He,
Yuanfeng Fu,
Yuxi Tian,
Xiaofeng Wang,
Xuejun Zhou,
Ren-Bo Ding,
Xingzhu Qi,
Jiaolin Bao
Affiliations
Leping He
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Yuanfeng Fu
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Yuxi Tian
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Xiaofeng Wang
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570102, China
Xuejun Zhou
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570102, China
Ren-Bo Ding
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Xingzhu Qi
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Jiaolin Bao
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of One Health, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Cancer is a major global public health problem with high morbidity. Depression is known to be a high-frequency complication of cancer diseases that decreases patients’ life quality and increases the mortality rate. Therefore, antidepressants are often used as a complementary treatment during cancer therapy. During recent decades, various studies have shown that the combination of antidepressants and anticancer drugs increases treatment efficiency. In recent years, further emerging evidence has suggested that the modulation of autophagy serves as one of the primary anticancer mechanisms for antidepressants to suppress tumor growth. In this review, we introduce the anticancer potential of antidepressants, including tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), tetracyclic antidepressants (TeCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). In particular, we focus on their autophagy-modulating mechanisms for regulating autophagosome formation and lysosomal degradation. We also discuss the prospect of repurposing antidepressants as anticancer agents. It is promising to repurpose antidepressants for cancer therapy in the future.
