AMBRA1 and its role as a target for anticancer therapy

Xiang Li; Yuan Lyu; Junqi Li; Xinjun Wang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.946086

AMBRA1 and its role as a target for anticancer therapy

Front Oncol. 2022 Sep 27:12:946086. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.946086. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiang Li^{1

2}, Yuan Lyu^{2

3}, Junqi Li^{2

3}, Xinjun Wang^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
² Henan Joint International Laboratory of Glioma Metabolism and Microenvironment Research, Henan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Zhengzhou, China.
³ Medical Research Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

The activating molecule in Beclin1-regulated autophagy protein 1 (AMBRA1) is an intrinsically disordered protein that regulates the survival and death of cancer cells by modulating autophagy. Although the roles of autophagy in cancer are controversial and context-dependent, inhibition of autophagy under some circumstances can be a useful strategy for cancer therapy. As AMBRA1 is a pivotal autophagy-associated protein, targeting AMBRA1 similarly may be an underlying strategy for cancer therapy. Emerging evidence indicates that AMBRA1 can also inhibit cancer formation, maintenance, and progression by regulating c-MYC and cyclins, which are frequently deregulated in human cancer cells. Therefore, AMBRA1 is at the crossroad of autophagy, tumorigenesis, proliferation, and cell cycle. In this review, we focus on discussing the mechanisms of AMBRA1 in autophagy, mitophagy, and apoptosis, and particularly the roles of AMBRA1 in tumorigenesis and targeted therapy.

Keywords: AMBRA1; autophagy; mitophagy; targeted therapy; tumorigenesis.

Publication types

Review