What’s Eating the Epidermis? In Vivo Autophagy Manipulation via Subcutaneous MicroRNA Delivery

Autophagy, discovered as a starvation-induced cellular recycling pathway, routes protein aggregates, damaged organelles, and pathogens to lysosomes and also supports normal tissue homeostasis. Although prior studies linked autophagy to epidermal differentiation, infection, and carcinogenesis, Wang et al. report upstream regulation of autophagy by microRNAs. Subcutaneous delivery of microRNA mimics and antagonists modulated autophagy in vivo, suggesting a novel potential therapeutic strategy in dermatology.