The roles of PKCs in regulating autophagy

Purpose Autophagy, as a highly conserved cellular degradation and recycling process, plays an important part in maintaining cellular homeostasis. PKC signaling is involved in multiple pathways including cell cycle progression, tumorigenesis, migration and autophagy. Methods Literatures about PKC and autophagy from PubMed databases were reviewed in this study. Results Studies regarding the association of PKC and autophagy remain debatable. Different duration of the stimulation of autophagy and distinct cell contexts result in different function of PKC in regulating autophagy. The subcellular localization of PKCs and their downstream regulators may influence the autophagy regulation as well. As important intracellular components, the mitochondria play an important role in regulating autophagy, by metabolic modulation and structural derangement. Conclusion Phase II studies regarding PKC-beta inhibitor, enzastaurin, showed promising results in MCL, DLBCL and recurrent high-grade gliomas. However, the detailed mechanism is still in need. The mechanism of PKC-beta in mediating autophagy in lymphoma and high-grade gliomas remains elusive as well. Moreover, several studies were in agreement that rottlerin enhanced autophagy in breast cancer cells, which warrants further clinical studies to verify PKC-delta as a therapeutic target. Thus, identifying the function of PKC in modulating autophagy and conducting related clinical studies help find novel target for chemotherapy.