Fig. 3.

Mechanisms of IVM-induced PAK1/Akt/mTOR-mediated autophagy.

IVM promotes degradation of PAK1 by ubiquitination/proteasome pathway, thereby inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Subsequently, the inactivation Akt/mTOR signaling cannot inhibit the formation of the Beclin-1 complex, thus inducing the formation autophagosome. Overall, IVM can induce autophagy through PAK1/Akt/mTOR pathway to represses the growth of cancer cells independent of apoptosis. (Ub:Ubiquitination, P:Phosphorylation)