Table 1.
Autophagy-related proteins in cancer
| Autophagy-related protein | Type of aberration | Effect on | Type of solid cancer | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMPK | genetic and transcriptional aberrations | energy homeostasis; tissue-dependent pro- or anticancer impact | many cancer types | [62] |
| ATG101 | overexpression | immunotherapy response | many cancer types | [63] |
| ATG16L2 | overexpression | proteasomal degradation of ATG16L1 | many cancer types | [57] |
| ATG2B, ATG5, ATG9B, ATG12 | genetic aberrations, haploinsufficiency | cytoprotection | gastric and colorectal tumours | [56] |
| ATG9A | overexpression | proliferation | breast cancer | [64] |
| DEPTOR | reduced expression/overexpression | epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) | low DEPTOR levels in cancer of pancreas, prostate, lungs, triple-negative and breast cancer; high DEPTOR levels in osteosarcoma and differentiated thyroid carcinoma | [60, 65–69] |
| FIP200 | aberrant activation | immune checkpoint therapy response | breast cancer; glioblastoma | [70, 71] |
| mLST8 | overexpression | cancer progression | hepatocellular carcinoma | [72] |
| mTORC1 | overactivation | survival of stem cells; reprogramming of metabolism; tumour invasion and metastasis | many cancer types | [73–75] |
| PRAS40 | overexpression | proliferation; enhanced NF-κB activity | hepatocellular carcinoma; lung adenocarcinoma; cutaneous melanoma | [76, 77] |
| RAP1 | changes in the RAP1 activation | formation of cell adhesions and junctions; migration and polarization; may suppress oncogenic Ras phenotype | Rap1 inhibits invasion and metastasis in the bladder, lung, and brain cancer; it has the opposite effect in melanoma and breast cancer or oesophageal squamous cell, head and neck squamous cell pancreatic, and non-small cell lung carcinomas | [78, 79] |
| RAPTOR | overexpression | proliferation and migration; the resistance to PI3K-mTOR inhibition | colorectal cancer; renal cancer; oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma | [80–82] |
| TFE3 | gene fusions | insulin-dependent metabolism; retinoblastoma-dependent cell cycle arrest | renal cell carcinoma | [83] |
| TFEB | gene fusions, transcriptional aberrations | biology of lysosomes; lysosomal exocytosis; proliferation; glutamine metabolism; regulator of tumour-associated macrophages; role in the TME; WNT and TGFβ signalling | Pancreatic, breast , and renal cancer; melanoma; colorectal cancer; gastric carcinoma; non-small cell lung cancer | [84–87] |
| TSC1/2 | genetic aberrations | anticancer impact | many cancer types | [88] |
| ULK1 | aberrant activation, genetic and transcriptional aberrations | antitumour immunity; NADPH production; innate immune response; cell cycle progression | LKB1-mutant lung cancer and many other types of cancer | [89–92] |
| V-ATPase | deregulation of some subunits, overexpression | biogenesis of endosomes and lysosomes; treatment resistance | breast cancer, lung and oesophagal tumours | [93–95] |
| VPS34 | aberrant activation | antitumour immunity; survival of cancer stem cells; activation of p62; antigen cross-presenting CD8α+ dendritic cells | melanoma; colorectal cancer; hepatocellular carcinoma | [96–99] |
| WIPI3 | genetic and transcriptional aberrations | cell cycle and spliceosome | hepatocellular carcinoma | [100] |
| VAMP3 | deletion of WDFY2 (negative regulator of VAMP3 recycling) | increase in extracellular matrix degradation | metastatic ovarian and prostate cancers | [101, 102] |
| GABARAP | transcriptional aberrations | tumour differentiation; EMT | colorectal cancer; breast cancer | [103, 104] |
| MAP1LC3A or B | transcriptional aberrations | cancer progression | breast cancer; renal cell carcinoma | [105, 106] |
| p62/SQSTM1 | accumulation | cancer progression | many cancer types | [107] |
| RAB7 | reduced expression | biogenesis of endosomes, autophagosomes, and lysosomes | highly invasive breast cancer | [93] |
| ESCRT | polymorphism in ESCRT-III (rs35094336, CHMP4C) | endosomal-sorting; cytokinetic abscission; genome instability | many cancer types | [108] |
| UVRAG | inhibition | cytokine production; oncogenic signalling; progression of age-related malignancies | many cancer types | [109] |
| Beclin1 | genetic and transcriptional aberrations | cytoprotection; proliferation under hypoxia and nutrient starvation | haploinsufficiency in breast and ovarian cancer; overexpression in colorectal and gastric carcinomas | [54, 55, 110] |