Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy: A Potential Target for Metabolic Diseases

Autophagy is the process by which cells selectively remove damaged organelles or proteins. Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is a type of autophagy that degrades proteins containing the KFERQ pentapeptide in cells. CMA can degrade damaged or excess proteins and therefore plays an important role in maintaining protein balance in cells. CMA can also play a regulatory role by degrading key proteins in life activities, such as lipid and glucose metabolism. This review introduces the CMA process and describes the current commonly used CMA detection methods. In addition, we describe the role of CMA in glucose and lipid metabolism. Finally, we summarize the current role of CMA in metabolic diseases such as diabetic nephropathy (DN), alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and discuss the role of CMA as a potential therapeutic target for metabolic diseases.