Autophagy-regulating miRNAs: potential targets for obesity and related metabolic disorders. Issue 6 (June 2021) - Zhang, Tian
Graphical abstract: Highlights: Autophagy is critical for lipid homeostasis and proper function of adipocytes. Autophagy-regulating microRNAs provide promising options in obesity therapy. Tissue-specific administration of microRNAs is critical for their clinical use. Autophagy-regulating microRNAs serve as biomarkers for diagnosis of obesity. Obesity is positively correlated with a variety of metabolic disorders. Autophagy is the major recycling process in adipocytes, dynamically regulating adipogenesis, lipid mobilization, and browning. miRNAs, a class of endogenous small noncoding RNAs, participate in each step of autophagy. Autophagy-regulating miRNAs are crucial for lipid homeostasis and proper adipocyte functioning. Herein, we summarize our current understanding of autophagy-regulating miRNAs related to obesity, as well as their specific targets. Autophagy-regulating miRNAs might fill crucial gaps in our understanding of the nature of obesity and provide promising targets for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity-related metabolic disorders.