ABSTRACT
The use of nanoparticles (NPs) seems to make life easier. In medicine, for instance, nanoparticles are used for targeted treatments, either by surface targeting or by magnetic guidance. This is done by manipulating the size and characteristics of the particles while choosing the matrix constituents. Mitochondrial depolarization can induce lysosomal mitochondria alteration using a process called mitophagy. Mitophagy plays an essential role in mitochondrial homeostasis, regulating their size and quality. Mitophagy eliminates damaged mitochondria, which could be induced under diverse stress conditions including pathogens and biopersistent NPs. NPs can affect autophagy by signaling pathways or by gene/protein expression. Autophagy induction by NPs could be considered a degradation process of foreign or aberrant agents for cells, such as bacteria and virus. A better insight is also needed on how a cellular response could affect the final fate of NPs by providing a different route to transport NPs between distinct types of cell organelles.
