Autophagy-related myosins: Critical roles and potential therapeutic effects in malignancies

Myosins, a superfamily of actin-based molecular motor proteins, are important regulators of actin cytoskeleton structure and remodeling. They act as mechano-sensors of the tumor environment, controlling key cellular processes associated with tumorigenesis and mediating various cellular activities, including muscle contraction, cell migration, intracellular transport, membrane protrusion formation, cell adhesion, and cell signaling. In eukaryotic cells, autophagy plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis by transporting cytoplasmic cargo to lysosomes for selective degradation. In tumors, recent research has explored the function of the role of myosin-influenced autophagy and tumor microenvironment-associated immune cells. Increasing evidence exists on how myosins and their mediated autophagy-related processes affect cancer development and progression. In this review, we discuss and dissect the functions played by different myosins at various stages of autophagy, and how myosins mediate autophagy involvement in the tumor process, based on the summaries of these findings, we provide new perspectives for possible therapeutic strategies.