自噬在子宫内膜异位症中的作用及机制

子宫内膜异位症(endometriosis,EMs)是一种多发于育龄期女性的妇科良性疾病,具有难治性和复杂性的特点,其发病机制尚未阐明。自噬(autophagy)是指生物膜将胞质内受损细胞器和错误折叠蛋白质包裹并转运至溶酶体内降解,并得以循环利用的动态调控过程。近年来,越来越多的研究发现自噬在EMs发生、发展、诊断及治疗中扮演重要角色。自噬在EMs中的表达水平存在上调或下调2种状态,提示自噬在EMs的发生、发展中发挥着促进或抑制的“双刃剑”作用,但目前仍有许多关键问题尚未解决。综述了自噬在EMs发生、发展和治疗中的作用及相关机制。

The Role and Mechanism of Autophagy in Endometriosis

Endometriosis (EMs) is a common benign gynecologic disease in women of childbearing age, which is difficult to be cured and complicated. Until now, the exact pathogenesis of EMs is not well known. Autophagy is a dynamic regulatory process in which biomembrance encapsulates and transports damaged organelles and misfolded proteins into the lysosomes for degradation and recycling. Recently an increasing number of studies proved that autophagy plays a vital role in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of EMs. The expression level of autophagy in EMs is up-regulated or down-regulated, suggesting that autophagy plays a double-edged sword role in promoting or inhibiting the occurrence and development of EMs, but many key problems remain unsolved. This article reviews the latest progress in the mechanism of autophagy in the pathogenesis and treatment of EMs.