Abstract:
Endometriosis is a benign gynecologic disease, but it is similar in behavior to malignant tumors, so it is called “benign gynecologic cancer”. At present, its pathogenesis is not fully understand. Autophagy has been the focus of recent research on various diseases, which has also been shown to have regulatory abnormalities in endometriosis. TFEB is a key regulator of autophagy. The upstream signal molecules and downstream effector proteins of TFEB have abnormal expression in endometriosis. So TFEB may be an effective target for controlling the development of endometriosis. This review aims to discuss the relationship between TFEB and endometriosis.
Keywords :autophagy, endometriosis, TFEB, ROS.
Introduction
Endometriosis, defined as the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, is a benign chronic gynecological disorder. It is a common and estrogen-dependent gynecological disease that affects 10% of reproductive-aged women, mainly cause chronic pelvic pain and infertility.(1) There are many theories about the pathogenesis of endometriosis, such as coelomic epithelial metaplasia, immune defense deficiency and menstrual reflux. However, the exact physiopathology of endometriosis is unclear until now.(2)
Recent studies revealed that autophagy also plays an indispensable role in the physiological and pathophysiological processes related to endometriosis.(3) Autophagy is a process that includes subcellular membranes encapsulate cytoplasmic components, form autophagosomes and then fuse with lysosomes to form autolysosomes for degrading the contents.(4) It is a self-renewal pathway of cells that degrades damaged macromolecules and organelles to maintain cell metabolism and improve cell function. During autophagy, the metabolic wastes are selectively identified and isolated in double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, which are subsequently fused with acidic lysosomes containing hydrolases used for cargo degradation.(5) Autophagy could be induced by the nutrient depletion, oxidative stress, or other harmful conditions. Many pathological conditions such as cancer(6) and neurodegenerative diseases(7) are associated with the dysfunction of this process. Therefore, it is crucial for us to study the cellular autophagy-lysosomal on the pathogenesis as well as therapeutics of disorders.
TFEB, the member of the basic helix-loop-helix leucine-zipper family of transcription factors, has been identified as a master regulator of autophagic flux via inducing lysosome biogenesis and promoting autophagosome formation as well as its fusion with lysosome.(8-10) Several studies confirmed that the important role of TFEB in neurodegenerative(11) and renal cell carcinoma.(12) However, the role of TFEB in endometriosis hasn’t be studied. This paper reviews the regulation mechanism of TFEB, and discusses its impact on the occurrence and development of endometriosis.