Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2024; 30(23): 2934-2946
Published online Jun 21, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i23.2934
From macroautophagy to mitophagy: Unveiling the hidden role of mitophagy in gastrointestinal disorders
Duo-Lun Gao, Meng-Ran Lin, Nan Ge, Jin-Tao Guo, Fan Yang, Si-Yu Sun
Duo-Lun Gao, Meng-Ran Lin, Nan Ge, Jin-Tao Guo, Fan Yang, Si-Yu Sun, Department of Gastroenterology, Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Minimally Invasive Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Techniques, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Co-first authors: Duo-Lun Gao and Meng-Ran Lin.
Co-corresponding authors: Fan Yang and Si-Yu Sun.
Author contributions: Gao DL and Lin MR contributed equally to this work; Gao DL, Lin MR, Yang F, Ge N, Guo JT, and Sun SY contributed to this study; Gao DL, Lin MR, and Sun SY designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Yang F, Ge N, and Guo JT contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; Gao DL, Lin MR, and Yang F contributed to the writing and editing of the manuscript, illustrations, and literature review; Yang F and Sun SY contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82100700; Fundamental Scientific Research Project from the Educational Department of Liaoning Province, No. LJKMZ20221191; High-quality Development Fund Project from the Science and Technology of Liaoning Province, No. 2023JH2 and No. 20200063; and 345 Talent Project of Shengjing Hospital, No. 52-30B.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Si-Yu Sun, MD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Minimally Invasive Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Techniques, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No. 36 Sanhao Street, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China. sunsy@sj-hospital.org
Received: March 8, 2024
Revised: May 4, 2024
Accepted: May 23, 2024
Published online: June 21, 2024
Processing time: 104 Days and 11.1 Hours
Abstract

In this editorial, we comment on an article titled “Morphological and biochemical characteristics associated with autophagy in gastrointestinal diseases”, which was published in a recent issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology. We focused on the statement that “autophagy is closely related to the digestion, secretion, and regeneration of gastrointestinal cells”. With advancing research, autophagy, and particularly the pivotal role of the macroautophagy in maintaining cellular equilibrium and stress response in the gastrointestinal system, has garnered extensive study. However, the significance of mitophagy, a unique selective autophagy pathway with ubiquitin-dependent and independent variants, should not be overlooked. In recent decades, mitophagy has been shown to be closely related to the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal diseases, especially inflammatory bowel disease, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer. The interplay between mitophagy and mitochondrial quality control is crucial for elucidating disease mechanisms, as well as for the development of novel treatment strategies. Exploring the pathogenesis behind gastrointestinal diseases and providing individualized and efficient treatment for patients are subjects we have been exploring. This article reviews the potential mechanism of mitophagy in gastrointestinal diseases with the hope of providing new ideas for diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Mitophagy; Gastrointestinal diseases; Parkin; Autophagic receptor; Colorectal cancer; Gastric cancer; Inflammatory bowel disease

Core Tip: Mitochondria are not only the energy factories of eukaryotic cells but are also closely related to apoptosis, and their dysfunction plays an important role in various gastrointestinal diseases. Mitophagy, an important mechanism to remove damaged mitochondria in vivo, has been found to alleviate the severity of inflammatory bowel diseases and plays a dual role in promoting and inhibiting the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal cancer. A complete understanding of the mitophagy pathway in gastrointestinal diseases will be helpful for developing new treatment strategies. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms underlying mitophagy and its contribution to gastrointestinal diseases.