Abstract
Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy), a highly conserved metabolic process, regulates cellular homeostasis by degrading dysfunctional cytosolic constituents and invading pathogens via the lysosomal system. In addition, autophagy selectively recycles specific organelles such as damaged mitochondria (via mitophagy), and lipid droplets (LDs; via lipophagy) or eliminates specialized intracellular pathogenic microorganisms such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and coronaviruses (via virophagy). Selective autophagy, particularly mitophagy, plays a key role in the preservation of healthy liver physiology, and its dysfunction is connected to the pathogenesis of a wide variety of liver diseases. For example, lipophagy has emerged as a defensive mechanism against chronic liver diseases. There is a prominent role for mitophagy and lipophagy in hepatic pathologies including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and drug-induced liver injury. Moreover, these selective autophagy pathways including virophagy are being investigated in the context of viral hepatitis and, more recently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated hepatic pathologies. The interplay between diverse types of selective autophagy and its impact on liver diseases is briefly addressed. Thus, modulating selective autophagy (e.g., mitophagy) would seem to be effective in improving liver diseases. Considering the prominence of selective autophagy in liver physiology, this review summarizes the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms and functions of selective autophagy (mainly mitophagy and lipophagy) in liver physiology and pathophysiology. This may help in finding therapeutic interventions targeting hepatic diseases via manipulation of selective autophagy.
1 Introduction: Autophagy machinery at a glance
Cells produce huge quantities of waste products, and disposal through a unified degradation process is necessary to preserve cellular homoeostasis. Besides the ubiquitin (UB)-proteasome system (UPS) which regulates the degradation of short-lived proteins (Yin et al., 2020; Niture et al., 2021), lysosomal-dependent systems such as macroautophagy degrade various long-lived unwanted cytosolic materials (including damaged and superfluous organelles) and exogenous invading pathogens (; Shojaei et al., 2020; Yang and Klionsky, 2020). For conserving cellular homeostasis, autophagy also controls cell survival pathways (Yang and Klionsky, 2020). To date, mammalian autophagy can be separated into three major types based on the cellular constituents that are delivered into the lysosome: macroautophagy (hereinafter referred to as autophagy), chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) and microautophagy (; ). The microautophagy pathway is the least characterized and involves the sequestration of cytoplasmic cargos directly at the surface of the lysosomal membrane; protrusion and/or membrane invagination followed by scission releases the cargo into the lysosomal lumen for subsequent degradation (; ). In addition, the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery also acts in the processes of microautophagy (Schäfer et al., 2020; Vietri et al., 2020). The selective degradation of proteins by CMA also involves uptake directly at the lysosomal surface; however, two key differences are that the targets of CMA are individual proteins, and these substrates must be unfolded and translocated directly across the lysosome membrane (). CMA involves the recognition of proteins containing a KFERQ motif that binds to a molecular chaperone, HSPA8/HSC70 [heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8]; these proteins are unfolded and then translocated into the lysosome through LAMP2A (lysosomal associated membrane protein 2A) in a process that involves lumenal HSPA8 along with other proteins, allowing the cargo to be degraded (; ). Macroautophagy is the most well-defined form of autophagy in mammalian cells. Canonical autophagy involves the expression of the ATG (autophagy related) proteins, BECN1 (beclin 1) and MAP1LC3/LC3 (microtubule associated protein I light chain 3) and the formation of a sequestering compartment, the phagophore, that matures into a double-membrane autophagosome (Ueno and Komatsu, 2017; ). Non-canonical autophagy involves a subset of the core ATG machinery (; ). For example, BECN1-independent autophagy can be stimulated by resveratrol (Scarlatti et al., 2008).
2 Regulation of the autophagy machinery
The term “autophagy” was coined by Christine de Duve (; ) based on the observation of double-membranous dense bodies (detected in hepatocytes by TEM) as part of a cell-autonomous destruction process (; ; Viret et al., 2021). Shortly thereafter the concept of a vesicular process dependent on membranes that originated from those of intracellular organelles including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was developed (). The initiation of canonical autophagy is principally controlled by two classical autophagy master regulators (; ). MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase) complex 1 (MTORC1) inhibits two key complexes that are needed for autophagy induction: 1) The ULK (unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase) complex which is comprised of ULK1 or ULK2, RB1CC1/FIP200 (RB1 inducible coiled-coil 1), ATG13 and ATG101; and 2) the class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns3K) complex which is comprised of the lipid kinase PIK3C3/VPS34, PIK3R4/VPS15, BECN1, NRBF2 and, depending on the specific complex, ATG14, AMBRA1 (autophagy and beclin one regulator 1) or UVRAG (UV radiation resistance associated) (). In mammalian cells, nutrient starvation typically inhibits the action of MTORC1 (Saxton and Sabatini, 2017; ), whereas in nutrient-rich situations, MTORC1 suppresses autophagy via phosphorylation of ULK1. The second major regulator of autophagy is AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which activates ULK1 through stimulatory phosphorylation. MTOR and AMPK work along with various other factors as part of a complex network to attain precise levels of autophagic activity ().
Inhibition of MTORC1 causes translocation of the ULK complex from the cytoplasm to the ER membrane (). Coordinately, the translocated ULK complex phosphorylates the class III PtdIns3K complex (; Matsunaga et al., 2010), resulting in the production of phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PtdIns3P). PtdIns3P allows the recruitment of ZFYVE1/DFCP1 (zinc finger FYVE-type containing 1) and WIPI (WD repeat domain, phosphoinositide interacting)-family proteins to trigger phagophore formation. Furthermore, ATG9-mediated vesicle trafficking from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the ER and interaction with ATG2 supply the lipid constituents for phagophore nucleation and expansion (Mari et al., 2010; Yamamoto et al., 2012; ; Xie et al., 2021). The expansion and maturation process involve two UB-like (UBL) conjugation cascade systems, which include ATG12–ATG5-ATG16L1 and the Atg8-family proteins (). Finally, fusion of an autophagosome–or the product of an autophagosome first fusing with an endosome, termed an amphisome–with a lysosome requires SNARE and RAB proteins (). In the resulting autolysosome, hydrolytic enzymes degrade the autophagic cargo and release the end-products into the cytosol for the recycling of nutrients and energy production. Supplementary Figure S1 shows the various mechanisms of autophagy.
3 Selective autophagy
During the last decade, selective autophagy has been characterized as being distinct from non-selective (bulk) autophagy (; ; Xie et al., 2021). Selective autophagy has many functions including the protection of mammalian cells from organelle damage by acting in the turnover of dysfunctional organelles, termed “organellophagy” (Okamoto, 2014; ; ). Depending on the degraded substrates such as mitochondria, LDs, ER, peroxisomes, ribosomes, lysosomes, nuclei, invading pathogens (bacteria and viruses) as well as ferritin, selective autophagy has been divided further into mitophagy, lipophagy, reticulophagy, pexophagy, ribophagy, lysophagy, nucleophagy, xenophagy and ferritinophagy, respectively (Zhou et al., 2020; ; Xu et al., 2021). Mitophagy, lipophagy and xenophagy are the best described and widely investigated types of selective autophagy.
3.1 Mitophagy machinery
As highly dynamic organelles, mitochondria undergo cycles of fusion and fission to control their remodeling and recycling of their constituents to support their mass and integrity (; ; ). Mitochondria consist of two-layer membranes known as the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) and outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), and the intermembrane space and the matrix, which mutually control biosynthesis, bioenergetics and cell signaling pathways. Healthy mitochondria are intracellular power factories that not only produce energy (ATP) via oxidative phosphorylation but also participate in other cellular functions (Palikaras et al., 2018; Spinelli and Haigis, 2018; Onishi et al., 2021). Conversely, defective mitochondria can produce excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage cellular components including DNA. To maintain proper mitochondrial homeostasis, mitophagy must be precisely controlled and balanced with the biogenesis of new mitochondria (Zhu et al., 2013; ). The accumulation of defective mitochondria due to inadequate mitophagy may be part of the etiology for several diseases including cancer (; Praharaj et al., 2021) due to impacts on several signaling pathways including inflammasome activation (Zhong et al., 2016). On the one hand, various stimulants, such as nutrient scarcity, hypoxia and viral infection induce mitophagy (Zhang et al., 2018; ; Malpartida et al., 2021). On the other hand, deregulated mitophagy can block the regeneration of healthy mitochondria causing the accumulation of defective mitochondria, which is associated with several pathological conditions (Malpartida et al., 2021) including inflammation (; Onishi et al., 2021), cancer (Panigrahi et al., 2020; Rodrigues et al., 2020), liver injury (; Ramachandran et al., 2021) and metabolic disorders (Su et al., 2021).
3.2 Mitophagy signaling pathways
Mitophagy participates in the elimination of damaged or excess mitochondria with the help of a bridge-like mitophagy receptor to degrade selective cargo (; ; Xie et al., 2021). These receptors generally have a conserved LC3-interacting region (LIR) composed of the core motif W/F/Y-X-X-L/V/I. Presently, two types of mitophagy receptors have been identified: soluble mitophagy receptors (SMRs) and membrane-attached mitophagy receptors (MMRs) (Figure 1). SMRs usually have single or double LIR motifs and one UB-interacting domain at the C terminus, while lacking a membrane translocation domain. The key SMRs include SQSTM1/p62, CALCOCO2/NDP52 (calcium binding and coiled-coil domain 2), OPTN (optineurin), NBR1 (NBR1 autophagy cargo receptor), and TAX1BP1 (Tax1 binding protein 1) (; ). The SMRs interact with cargoes through the UB-interacting domain and anchor themselves together with these cargoes to the phagophore membrane via LIR-mediated binding with the phosphatidylethanolamine-conjugated form of LC3 (LC3-II). In contrast, MMRs already reside on the mitochondria and do not directly bind with UB. MMRs such as BNIP3 (BCL2 interacting protein 3), BNIP3L/NIX (BCL2 interacting protein 3 like), BCL2L13 (BCL2 like 13), FUNDC1 (FUN14 domain containing 1) and PHB2 (prohibitin 2) directly bind to LC3 by their LIR motifs, thus recruiting mitochondria to the phagophore for initiation of mitophagy (; Williams and Ding, 2018). The sequestering compartment of mitophagy is referred to as a mitophagosome; this compartment is essentially the same as an autophagosome, except that it forms in close apposition to the cargo and excludes bulk cytoplasm. The completed (closed) mitophagosome then shuttles to a lysosome for fusion (forming a mitolysosome) and cargo degradation (Figure 2). One of the best-characterized mechanisms of mammalian mitophagy involves the PINK1 (PTEN induced kinase 1) and PRKN/PARK2 (parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase) pathway (; Williams and Ding, 2018; ).
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
3.3 PINK1-PRKN-dependent mitophagy
Cytosolic PINK1-dependent stimulation of PRKN is one key pathway leading to mitophagy (
Interestingly, mitophagy is regulated by several cargo receptors. The most frequently considered PRKN substrates in the OMM are the mitochondrial fusion protein GTPases MFN1 (mitofusin 1) and MFN2, the mitochondrial trafficking proteins RHOT1/MIRO1 (ras homolog family member T1) and RHOT2/MIRO2, TOMM20 (translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20) and VDAC1 (voltage dependent anion channel 1) (Sarraf et al., 2013; Ma et al., 2020). PINK1-dependent phosphorylation positively regulates mitophagy, e.g., phosphorylation of MFN2 (at Thr111 and Ser442) and RHOT1 (at Thr298 and Thr299) by PINK1 induces mitophagy (
In addition, several IMM proteins in damaged mitochondria such as PHB2 bind to LC3 via the LIR domain to initiate mitophagy (Wei et al., 2017; Ma et al., 2020). PRKN also interacts with AMBRA1 (
3.4 PRKN-independent mitophagy
PRKN is supposed to be a vital controller of mitophagy, yet accumulating data suggest that initiation of mitophagy may happen even with a deficiency of PRKN (Villa et al., 2018;
3.5 Receptor-mediated mitophagy
BNIP3L/NIX localizes to the OMM and is identified as a member of the BH3-only protein family with pro-apoptotic activity. A small GTPase, RHEB, is recruited to the OMM with oxidative phosphorylation activity and promotes mitophagic activity through interaction with BNIP3L and LC3-II. Under hypoxia, BNIP3L binds to Atg8-family proteins such as LC3 through its LIR motif for inducing mitophagy during reticulocyte maturation (Novak et al., 2010; Ma et al., 2020;
In addition to the mitophagy protein receptors, several phospholipids can interact with LC3 and act as mitophagy receptors for regulation of mitochondrial dynamics including fission and fusion. For example, the IMM-oriented phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL) translocates to the OMM in the case of mitochondrial damage (
3.6 Ubiquitin ligase-mediated mitophagy
OMM-resident MUL1 can induce mitophagy in response to damaged mitochondria in mammalian cells. Knockdown of MUL1 in PRKN-expressing cells renders them incapable of mitochondrial PRKN translocation following depolarization (Yun et al., 2014; Xie et al., 2021), indicating that the action of MUL1 may be PRKN independent. ARIH1 induce mitophagy in a PRKN-independent manner in cancer cells (Villa et al., 2017) resulting in cancer cell resistance to anti-cancer therapy (
4 Lipophagy and its regulation
Fatty acids (FAs) are critical cellular components, as they organize basic constituents of biological membranes and can be utilized as energy substrates via β-oxidation within mitochondria. However, accumulation of FAs can be detrimental to mammalian cells due to their lipotoxicity; thus, cells transform these FAs into neutral lipids for storage in highly dynamic specialized organelles called LDs (
The lipolytic pathway relies on the direct activation of cytosolic lipases including PNPLA2/ATGL (patatin like phospholipase domain containing 2), LIPE/HSL (lipase E, hormone sensitive type) and MGLL (monoglyceride lipase) working together with regulatory protein factors (e.g., an activator protein of PNPLA2/ATGL called ABHD5/CGI-58 [abhydrolase domain containing 5, lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase]) (Zechner et al., 2012;
FIGURE 3

Overview of major lipid metabolism pathways: connecting lipophagy and lipolysis. Lipophagy involves small cytosolic LDs (cLDs) or sequestering portions of large cLDs. Lipophagosomes (autophagosomes containing LDs) deliver cLD cargo to lysosomes, wherein LIPA/LAL degrades the lipid cargo and subsequently releases FFAs that undergo mitochondrial β-oxidation to produce ATP. Activation of chaperone-mediated autophagy degrades the cLD coat proteins PLIN2 and PLIN3 through the coordinated action of HSPA8; the cLD surface becomes accessible to neutral lipolysis by PNPLA2/ATGL in complex with LD-binding protein ABHD5/CGI-58, which hydrolyzes the cLD triacylglycerols to generate FFAs. Nutrient deprivation induces AMPK that inhibits MTORC1 and triggers autophagy. Upon nutrient deprivation, the expression of RAB7 increases; in that event RAB7 directly facilitates lipophagy and also recruits RAB10 to the LD. RAB10 forms a complex with EHBP1 and EHD2 to initiate lipophagy, potentially through membrane expansion along the LD surface. The LD surface protein PLIN2 can bind SQSTM1, a selective autophagy receptor which binds LC3 on phagophores. AUP1 recruits the ubiquitin ligase UBE2G2 via its G2BR domain which ubiquitinates LD surface proteins. This ubiquitination may facilitate lipophagy through a to-be-determined selective autophagy receptor binding to phagophores.
In lipophagy (Figure 3) the specific turnover of LDs occurs via the autophagy-lysosome system, through the function of acid lipases resident to the autolysosome. Lipophagy thus functions as an alternative to classical cytosolic lipase-mediated LD degradation (
FIGURE 4

Immunogold labeling of LC3 in lipophagosomes of ETRs hepatocytes (B–D) and control (A). Short arrows indicate LC3 immunogold particles. Stars show smaller LDs originating from a larger LD. The curved arrow in c marks a membranous structure. LD: lipid droplet; LV: lipophagic vacuole. (Eid et al., 2013a; reprinted from JMH with permission).
Numerous members of the RAB GTPase family have been identified as important mediators of LD catabolism events. Upon nutrient deprivation, RAB7 is a key player associated with both LDs and autophagic membranes, which becomes active and stimulates the movement of lysosomes near LDs for their targeted degradation via lipophagy (
5 Xenophagy and virophagy: Selective autophagic elimination of microorganisms
Xenophagy involves the dedicated removal of intracellular pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., viruses and bacteria). Like mitophagy, xenophagy uses several receptors (including SQSTM1, TAX1BP1, CALCOCO2, OPTN and NBR1) to selectively connect the cargo to the phagophore (Sharma et al., 2018;
COVID-19, an outbreak triggered by the virus SARS-CoV-2, has become a devastating global pandemic with significant impacts on human life and economic systems. Although most infected individuals are asymptomatic, the typical COVID-19 disease presents as mild to severe progressive pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 infection can affect all the systems of the human body, and emerging data suggest that COVID-19 has pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations including hepatic injury subsequently progressing to multiorgan damage and death particularly in elderly patients (
As with certain other microbes, SARS-CoV-2 subverts the autophagic response to avoid the host cell’s immune response. For example, SARS-CoV-2 infection results in reduced expression of IRF8, which encodes a transcription factor that positively regulates xenophagy (
6 Transcriptional regulation of selective autophagy
Several selective autophagy-related genes and lysosomal-genes are regulated by microphthalmia (MiT/TFE) subfamily transcription factors (TFs) (Nezich et al., 2015). For example, TFEB regulates not only non-selective autophagy, but also lysosomal biogenesis, mitophagy and lipophagy (Zhang et al., 2018;
NFE2L2 has been implicated in maintaining mitochondrial redox homeostasis and biogenesis through the direct upregulation of mitochondrial TFs, and the mitochondrial quality control system through PINK1-PRKN-dependent mitophagy activation. NFE2L2 can also regulate the transcription of TFAM (transcription factor A, mitochondrial). TFAM translocates to the mitochondrial matrix where it stimulates mtDNA replication and mitochondrial gene expression (Tang, 2016). By maintaining a compensatory effect of TFAM, TFEB may launch a positive feedback regulatory loop for maintaining the equilibrium between mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis. Like TFEB, NR1H4/FXR (nuclear receptor subfamily one group H member 4) and transcriptional activator CREB (cAMP response element binding protein) regulate lipophagy. Under conditions of nutrient deprivation, CREB triggers lipophagy by upregulating the expression of ATG7, ULK1 and TFEB, but, under fed conditions, NR1H4/FXR suppresses this response (
SIRT (sirtuin) proteins are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent deacetylases that have several actions regarding mitochondrial protection in response to various stresses, and FA composition. For example, SIRT3 promotes BNIP3-mediated mitophagy via inducing the MAPK/ERK-CREB signaling pathway. Moreover, SIRT3 can restrict HBV transcription and replication, limiting inflammation-mediated liver damage during HBV infection (
Lipophagy also controls lipid catabolism by contributing to the regulation of PPARA action via NCOR1 (nuclear receptor corepressor 1) degradation. In response to fasting, autophagic NCOR1 degradation allows PPARA induction for promoting FA β-oxidation. Defective autophagy causes NCOR1 accumulation and inhibition of PPARA activity resulting in impaired β-oxidation (Saito et al., 2019;
7 Roles of mitophagy and lipophagy in hepatic physiology and pathophysiology
The liver is a unique organ based on its functional properties and regenerative capability because liver cells contain a large mitochondrial mass as well as supply glucose for the entire body and store lipids. The liver also acts as an immune organ in the body because anatomically it receives the portal blood supply from the gut and encounters the incoming challenge of orally swallowed intestinal bacteria and their metabolic antigens. Finally, hepatocytes are the primary sites of various liver-trophic viral infections that are among the most common infections in the world (
7.1 Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD)
The pathogenesis of NAFLD originates from abnormal liver lipid metabolism, including enhanced lipogenesis, raised FFA uptake and lipid accumulation in hepatocytes (
Similar to NAFLD, AFLD caused by chronic alcohol abuse has a wide spectrum of pathogenesis such as steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis and fibrosis which can develop into cirrhosis and even HCC (
7.2 Hepatocellular cancer (HCC)
Many human diseases including liver cancer are associated with mutations in core components of the mitophagy machinery and disrupted mitochondrial dynamics. Autophagy, mitophagy (Wang Y. et al., 2015; Wang Y. et al., 2020) and lipophagy (
7.3 Drug-induced liver injury (DILI)
The most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States is associated with DILI. Drugs causing DILI include antivirals, antibiotics, and immunosuppressive drugs, and many others have been connected to liver injury. Acetaminophen (APAP also known as paracetamol in the United Kingdom) toxicity, idiosyncratic or dose-independent DILI occurs relatively frequently (Williams and Ding, 2020). Mitochondria play a key role in controlling cell death and DILI (Ma et al., 2020). For example, diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the treatment of rheumatic diseases may be involved in drug-induced mitochondrial injury and dysfunction (Ramachandran et al., 2018). Thus, co-treatment with the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) inhibits diclofenac-induced mitochondrial depolarization and hepatotoxicity (
7.4 Viral hepatitis
Research on autophagic action in liver immunity is inadequate and usually limited to hepatitis viruses. Numerous infectious microorganisms suppress autophagy and dull the immune response; or otherwise, redirect autophagy for promicrobial action (
FIGURE 5

A schema showing the various diseases inducing hepatic injury, including COVID-19.
8 The interplay of selective autophagy pathways in hepatic pathology
The interplay between different types of selective autophagy is not well studied. A recent study found that the Mycobacteriumbovis utilizes host mitophagy to suppress host xenophagy to enhance its intracellular survival (Song et al., 2021). Consequently, it would be necessary to determine if this applies to liver diseases caused by viruses, such as hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, activation of PRKN-mediated mitophagy may mitigate hepatic steatosis by activation of lipophagy in animal models of binge ethanol exposure (Williams et al., 2015;
9 Conclusions and future directions
Autophagy is vital for regulating normal liver physiology. In the current review, we have focused on how selective autophagy (mainly mitophagy and lipophagy) affects liver pathologies such as NAFLD, AFLD, and HCC progression and severity. Defective autophagy is insufficient to degrade accumulated LDs in the liver, causing hepatic steatosis, a primary episode in NAFLD or AFLD. However, many questions remain before we can understand the roles of selective autophagy in these diseased conditions. The fact remains that there are no exact protocols to evaluate the precise levels of autophagy dynamics in patients. Because the dynamics and stages of autophagy vary greatly during the progression of these diseases, a selective precise method is necessary to monitor and assess the type and magnitude of autophagy. Thus, development of appropriate methods, biomarkers of autophagy impairment and biomarkers for the in vivo spectrum of liver diseases are also significant hurdles in the discovery of autophagy-targeting strategies. In addition, detection, and measurement of some metabolites in the blood, saliva or urine that are secreted via autophagy-dependent pathways may be useful. Promoting active autophagy and restoring defective autophagy by repurposing drugs or natural products would be hugely beneficial for the treatment of hepatic diseases. Artificial intelligence technology can also be used to enhance drug discovery. Analyses of autophagosome numbers, or levels of autophagy markers such as ATGs, LC3-II or BECN1 are not sufficient to evaluate autophagic action and monitoring of UPS-mediated degradation should be considered. As autophagy can promote cell viability in extreme stress, an appropriate assessment of autophagy level in patients with liver disease is essential for clinical applications.
Interestingly, HBV, HCV, DENV and SARS-CoV-2 have evolved unique mechanisms to augment autophagic action for their own propagation in the liver. Mitophagy seems to be a vital cellular process that can promote health by maintaining mitochondrial turnover and integrity, and thus maintain physiological liver function. Accumulating evidence implies that mitophagy and lipophagy defend liver cells from damage and act as protective mechanism against the development of liver diseases such as DILI. Thus, boosting hepatic mitophagy and lipophagy appears to be an auspicious tactic in the development of novel therapies for liver diseases. However, the precise roles of mitophagy and lipophagy are controversial, and disrupting these processes can exacerbate liver pathogenesis (e.g., HCC development and its progression), indicating that appropriate control of selective autophagy must be coordinately managed to relieve liver diseases. In addition, hepatic parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells have different lipophagic responses to various stressors, and liver cell-specific lipophagy molecules are not well identified. Furthermore, there are huge inconsistencies among different experimental and clinical studies; and most conclusions on selective autophagy (mitophagy)-based liver pathology are experimental model- and stage of disease-dependent, hindering the comprehensive understanding of the roles of selective autophagy in liver diseases. Thus, advanced studies are necessary to understand the comprehensive function(s) of selective autophagy in different stages of liver diseases and to develop this understanding sufficiently to produce clinically significant therapeutic strategies.
Statements
Author contributions
AA-B planned, amended, revised, and proof-read the manuscript; NE supplied the TEM figures, judgmentally revised, and approved the final draft of the manuscript; DK, critically revised and edited the manuscript; PT, MM, MG-M, and NP revised and edited the manuscript; RF, AS, and MF revised the final draft of manuscript; YI the revised EM figures and artwork.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2023.1149809/full#supplementary-material
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Summary
Keywords
autophagy, lipophagy, liver disease, mitophagy, TFEB, virophagy
Citation
Alim Al-Bari A, Ito Y, Thomes PG, Menon MB, García-Macia M, Fadel R, Stadlin A, Peake N, Faris ME, Eid N and Klionsky DJ (2023) Emerging mechanistic insights of selective autophagy in hepatic diseases. Front. Pharmacol. 14:1149809. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1149809
Received
23 January 2023
Accepted
23 February 2023
Published
16 March 2023
Volume
14 - 2023
Edited by
Pedro Miguel Rodrigues, Biodonostia Health Research Institute (IIS Biodonostia), Spain
Reviewed by
Marina Villanueva Paz, University of Malaga, Spain
Christopher L. Axelrod, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, United States
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© 2023 Alim Al-Bari, Ito, Thomes, Menon, García-Macia, Fadel, Stadlin, Peake, Faris, Eid and Klionsky.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Nabil Eid, nabilsaleheid@imu.edu.my
This article was submitted to Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology
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