Autophagy Modulation by Dysregulated Micrornas in Human Bladder Cancer

Abstract

The catabolic process of autophagy is an essential cellular function that directs the breakdown and recycling of cellular macromolecules. Increased autophagy causes various cancers, mainly bladder cancer (BC), to survive under microenvironmental stress and promotes cancer cell growth and aggressiveness. Cancer cells with rapid proliferation require a high basal level of autophagy to deal with the increased metabolic rate that generates reactive oxygen species, misfolded proteins, and damaged organelles. The regulation of autophagy by a class of small noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) in human cancer has been discovered in recent years. In BC, a high basal level of autophagy plays critical roles in cancer survival and resistance to chemotherapy. Some studies have suggested that miRNAs participate in regulating these functions. In this review, we focused on recent key findings in the study of dysregulated miRNAs and their involvement in the regulation of autophagy in BC.