小檗碱双向调节细胞自噬机制的研究进展

Research advances on autophagy mechanism of bidirectional regulation by berberine

自噬是一种广泛存在于真核细胞内的自我保护机制,它主要通过分解蛋白质和多肽的循环以维持细胞内环境稳定。自噬失调常与多种疾病密切相关,如神经退行性疾病、心血管疾病、内分泌疾病、癌症等。自噬调节剂具有治疗多种疾病的潜力,但因其本身的毒性和非特异性,目前尚未应用于临床。小檗碱是一种从黄连中分离出来的具有多种生理功能的异喹啉生物碱,低毒易得,具有双向调节自噬的特性。一方面,小檗碱能上调细胞基础自噬,有助于维持细胞内稳态。另一方面,小檗碱能恢复应激诱导的过度自噬,缓冲细胞损害。近年来,小檗碱因其独特的双向调节机制而备受关注,在药物开发和临床应用领域也备受期待。因此,本文总结了小檗碱对自噬调控的相关机制,突出小檗碱作为自噬调节剂的独特优势,以期为其扩大临床应用范围提供参考。

Autophagy is a self-protective mechanism that widely exists in eukaryotic cells. It maintains the stability of the intracellular environment mainly by inactivating the cycle of proteins and peptides. Autophagy is associated with a variety of diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine diseases, cancers, and so on. Autophagy regulators have the potency to treat these diseases;however, they are not widely used in the clinic for the toxicity and non-specificity. Berberine, with a variety of physiological functions, is a kind of isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Coptis Chinensis and is characteristic of dual regulation of autophagy. On one hand, berberine can up-regulate basic autophagy and help maintain intracellular homeostasis. On the other hand, berberine restores stress-induced excessive autophagy and buffers cell damage. This review mainly summarizes the regulatory mechanism of berberine on autophagy and provides a reference for expanding the clinical application scope of berberine.