Regulation of autophagy: a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of hearing loss

Autophagy, a ubiquitous cellular biological behavior that features a lysosome-dependent degradation pathway, is an important mechanism for cellular self-protection in eukaryotes. Autophagy plays essential roles in cell survival, renewal, material reuse and the maintenance of homeostasis. This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the physiological function of autophagy and its possible roles in auditory diseases. We focused our review on original publications on animal models, drug models, and molecular mechanisms of hearing impairment involved in the dysregulation of autophagy. As research on the mechanisms of autophagy has deepened, it has become obvious that autophagy plays essential roles not only in cell survival, but the occurrence and development of a variety of auditory-related disorder, including aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss, age-related hearing loss, and noise-induced hearing loss. While clinical treatment of such conditions via regulation of the development of autophagy is a novel idea, more time is needed to fully elucidate the specific regulatory pathways and modes of autophagy in auditory diseases. The continued study of the mechanisms and regulation of autophagy in auditory diseases will be of great significance for the future treatment and prevention of these conditions. Key words: autophagosome; autophagy; hearing loss; lysosome; microtubule-associated proteins light chain 3; mTOR; rapamycin; stress; treatment