Title:The Application of Nanomaterials in Cell Autophagy
Volume: 16
Issue: 1
Author(s): Yang Gao and Tao Zhang*
Affiliation:
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu,China
Keywords:
Autophagy, nanostructure, stem cells, cancer stem cells, neurodegenerative diseases, combination therapy.
Abstract: Autophagy is defined as separation and degradation of cytoplasmic components through
autophagosomes, which plays an essential part in physiological and pathological events. Hence it is
also essential for cellular homeostasis. Autophagy disorder may bring about the failure of stem cells to
maintain the fundamental transformation and metabolism of cell components. However, for cancer
cells, the disorder of autophagy is a feasible antitumor idea. Nanoparticles, referring to particles of the
size range 1-100 nanometers, are appearing as a category of autophagy regulators. These nanoparticles
may revolutionize and broaden the therapeutic strategies of many diseases, including neurodegenerative
diseases, tumors, muscle disease, and so on. Researches of autophagy-induced nanomaterials
mainly focus on silver particles, gold particles, silicon particles, and rare earth oxides. But in recent
years, more and more materials have been found to regulate autophagy, such as nano-nucleic acid materials,
nanofiber scaffolds, quantum dots, and so on. The review highlights that various kinds of
nanoparticles have the power to regulate autophagy intensity in stem cells of interest and further control
biological behaviors, which may become a reliable treatment choice for disease therapy.
