Mechanistic study on the role of multi-pathway autophagy in ovarian aging: literature review.

Abstract

Ovarian aging is one of the common diseases in the female reproductive system. It is characterized by complex etiologies, involving multiple factors such as genetics, environment, metabolism, and cellular stress. In recent years, autophagy, a crucial cellular self-degradation and repair mechanism, has received substantial attention for its role in maintaining and deteriorating ovarian function. This review systematically summarizes the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its regulation, as well as the latest research progress of macroautophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) and mitophagy in ovarian aging. Studies have shown that dysregulation of autophagic pathways is closely associated with decreased oocyte quality and reduced ovarian reserve function. Additionally, signaling pathways such as PI3K, AMPK, and mTOR participate in the process of ovarian aging by regulating autophagic activity. Although numerous studies have revealed the critical role of autophagy in ovarian aging, many issues remain to be resolved, such as the crosstalk mechanisms between different autophagic pathways and the precise spatiotemporal dynamics of the autophagic regulatory network. A deep understanding of the regulatory network of multi-pathway autophagy will provide new insights for developing intervention strategies to delay ovarian aging, holding significant scientific and clinical application value.