Autophagy is essential for survival and function of polyploid giant cancer cells under therapeutic stress - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #PGCC
- #cancer recurrence
- #autophagy
- Polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCCs) are key drivers of recurrence and metastasis in aggressive cancers.
- PGCCs can survive cytotoxic therapy in a dormant state and produce chemoresistant progeny.
- Autophagy is essential for PGCC survival, nuclear maintenance, and migration under therapeutic stress.
- PGCCs exhibit elevated oxidative stress and upregulation of autophagy-related genes like SQSTM1 (P62), LC3, and LAMP1.
- Autophagy inhibition reduces nuclear size, heterogeneity, and micronuclei number in PGCCs.
- PGCCs display a dispersed vimentin network that scaffolds autophagic structures; autophagy inhibition impairs migration.
- Targeting autophagy may disrupt PGCC-driven recurrence in aggressive cancers.