Zinc and autophagy.

Author: Liu QIAOYUN ¹ ; Shen HANMING ² ; Xia DAJING ³
Author Information

1. Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
2. Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117597, Singapore.
3. Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. dxia@zju.edu.cn.
Publication Type:Journal Article
From: Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences 2016;45(3):308-314
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Autophagy refers to a catabolic process,in which the damaged organelles or biological macromolecules, such as protein aggregates, are degraded via lysosome. The completion of autophagy depends on a series of autophagy-related genes (Atgs) and many upstream regulatory molecules. Zinc is an essential trace element, and plays an important role in the process of autophagy as a component of enzymes and structural proteins like zinc transporters or zinc finger protein. The regulation of autophagy is closely associated with the zinc ion homeostasis. In addition, many studies suggest that the protective effects of zinc on cells are likely to be done by autophagy. This review aims to summarize the current research progress and discuss the reciprocal regulation mechanism between zinc and autophagy, which may provide insights into the intricate roles of autophagy in diseases and find novel strategies for treatment and prevention of human diseases.