» Articles » PMID: 38774756

PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway Mediated Autophagy in Oral Carcinoma - A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Oral cancer is the most heterogeneous cancer at clinical and histological levels. PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway was identified as one of the most commonly modulated signals in oral cancer, which regulates major cellular and metabolic activity of the cell. Thus, various proteins of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway were used as therapeutic targets for oral cancer, to design more specific drugs with less off-target toxicity. This review sheds light on the regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and its role in controlling autophagy and associated apoptosis during the progression and metastasis of oral squamous type of malignancy (OSCC). In addition, we reviewed in detail the upstream activators and the downstream effectors of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling as potential therapeutic targets for oral cancer treatment.

Citing Articles

Conditional knockdown of hepatic PCSK9 ameliorates high-fat diet-induced liver inflammation in mice.

Zhang X, Lu Q, Li Y, Shi S, Ma C, Miao M Front Pharmacol. 2025; 16:1528250.

PMID: 39963241 PMC: 11830812. DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1528250.


Evaluation of exo-long noncoding RNA MALAT1 in OSCC in comparison to dysplastic and normal: A cross-sectional study.

Sekar R, Jayaraman S, Veeraraghavan V, Krishnamoorthy K, Aramanai S, Natarajan S J Oral Biol Craniofac Res. 2025; 15(1):123-128.

PMID: 39850457 PMC: 11754077. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobcr.2024.12.018.


VMP1: a multifaceted regulator of cellular homeostasis with implications in disease pathology.

Tong J, Wang Q, Gao Z, Liu Y, Lu C Front Cell Dev Biol. 2024; 12:1436420.

PMID: 39100095 PMC: 11294092. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1436420.

References
1.
Borges A, de Souza M, da Fonseca A, Wermelinger G, Ribeiro R, Amaral A . Chemoselective Synthesis of Mannich Adducts from 1,4-Naphthoquinones and Profile as Autophagic Inducers in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Molecules. 2023; 28(1). PMC: 9822194. DOI: 10.3390/molecules28010309. View

2.
Zhang L, Wu J, Ling M, Zhao L, Zhao K . The role of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway in human cancers induced by infection with human papillomaviruses. Mol Cancer. 2015; 14:87. PMC: 4498560. DOI: 10.1186/s12943-015-0361-x. View

3.
Carnero A, Paramio J . The PTEN/PI3K/AKT Pathway in vivo, Cancer Mouse Models. Front Oncol. 2014; 4:252. PMC: 4172058. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2014.00252. View

4.
Hemmings B, Restuccia D . PI3K-PKB/Akt pathway. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2012; 4(9):a011189. PMC: 3428770. DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a011189. View

5.
Vo T, Wee Y, Cheng H, Wu C, Chen Y, Tuan V . Surfactin induces autophagy, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest in human oral squamous cell carcinoma. Oral Dis. 2021; 29(2):528-541. DOI: 10.1111/odi.13950. View