Role of ATG7-dependent non-autophagic pathway in angiogenesis

Jinxiang Chen; Yu Liang; Shaorun Hu; Jun Jiang; Min Zeng; Mao Luo

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1266311

Role of ATG7-dependent non-autophagic pathway in angiogenesis

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Jan 10:14:1266311. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1266311. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jinxiang Chen^#^{1

2

3}, Yu Liang^#⁴, Shaorun Hu^{1

2

3}, Jun Jiang^{5

6}, Min Zeng⁷, Mao Luo^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Basic Medicine Research Innovation Center for Cardiometabolic Diseases, Ministry of Education, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
² School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, Ministry of Education and Medical Electrophysiological Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
⁴ The Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
⁵ Department of General Surgery (Thyroid Surgery), The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
⁶ Metabolic Vascular Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
⁷ Department of Pharmacy, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

ATG7, one of the core proteins of autophagy, plays an important role in various biological processes, including the regulation of autophagy. While clear that autophagy drives angiogenesis, the role of ATG7 in angiogenesis remains less defined. Several studies have linked ATG7 with angiogenesis, which has long been underappreciated. The knockdown of ATG7 gene in cerebrovascular development leads to angiogenesis defects. In addition, specific knockout of ATG7 in endothelial cells results in abnormal development of neovascularization. Notably, the autophagy pathway is not necessary for ATG7 regulation of angiogenesis, while the ATG7-dependent non-autophagic pathway plays a critical role in the regulation of neovascularization. In order to gain a better understanding of the non-autophagic pathway-mediated biological functions of the autophagy-associated protein ATG7 and to bring attention to this expanding but understudied research area, this article reviews recent developments in the ATG7-dependent non-autophagic pathways regulating angiogenesis.

Keywords: ATG7; NF-κB; STAT1; angiogenesis; non-autophagic pathway.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 82370419), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2022YFS0627), and the Foundation of Luzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (2023SYF103).