Modulation of Cancer Cell Autophagic Responses by Graphene-Based Nanomaterials: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications
2021
Authors:
Ristić, BiljanaHarhaji-Trajković, Ljubica
Bošnjak, Mihajlo
Dakić, Ivana
Mijatović, Srđan
Trajković, Vladimir
Document Type:
Article (Published version)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract:
Graphene-based nanomaterials (GNM) are plausible candidates for cancer therapeutics
and drug delivery systems. Pure graphene and graphene oxide nanoparticles, as well as graphene
quantum dots and graphene nanofibers, were all able to trigger autophagy in cancer cells through both
transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms involving oxidative/endoplasmic reticulum
stress, AMP-activated protein kinase, mechanistic target of rapamycin, mitogen-activated protein
kinase, and Toll-like receptor signaling. This was often coupled with lysosomal dysfunction and
subsequent blockade of autophagic flux, which additionally increased the accumulation of autophagy
mediators that participated in apoptotic, necrotic, or necroptotic death of cancer cells and influenced
the immune response against the tumor. In this review, we analyze molecular mechanisms and
structure–activity relationships of GNM-mediated autophagy modulation, its consequences for
cancer cell survival/death and anti-tumor immune response, and the possible implications for the
use of GNM in cancer therapy.
Keywords:
graphene; nanomaterial; cancer; autophagy; apoptosis; necrosisSource:
Cancers, 2021, 13, 16, 4145-Funding / projects:
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200110 (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200110)
DOI: 10.3390/cancers13164145
ISSN: 2072-6694
PubMed: 34439299