Autophagy and heat: a potential role for heat therapy to improve autophagic function in health and disease

Abstract

Autophagy is a crucial cell survival mechanism that involves the degradation and recycling of old or damaged organelles and proteins to maintain cellular homeostasis. Impairments in autophagy are central to the pathogenesis of many conditions including metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, diabetes, and aging. Although various pharmacological agents may be able to stimulate autophagic function, to our knowledge, few interventions exist that have been deemed safe and effective in humans. An emerging body of evidence suggests that targeting the autophagic pathway via passive heating (heat therapy) may stimulate autophagic function. Therefore, the primary focus of the present review is to analyze the mechanisms in which passive heating induces autophagy as defined by in vitro and in vivo (animal and human) models. Our secondary focus is to examine the implications of utilizing passive heating to restore dysfunctional autophagy in chronic disease and aging. Finally, we discuss potential therapeutic strategies to implement passive heating to stimulate autophagic function in humans.