Autophagy is a crucial cellular process for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. It is a highly conserved process that strictly relies on and culminates with lysosomal degradation of cytoplasmic cargo. Based on the mechanism of lysosomal uptake of cellular components, autophagy can be classified into four predominant subtypes: macroautophagy, microautophagy, crinophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy.

The cellular autophagic response is regulated by multiple stressors, environmental conditions, and molecular mechanisms. Since the discovery of autophagy as a survival mechanism in yeasts subject to nutrient deprivation, extensive studies have been established in higher eukaryotes. These studies played a key role in our robust understanding of autophagy in terms of machinery and pathophysiology. Indeed, perturbation of the autophagic response has been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis, development, and progression of various disorders including diabetes mellitus (DM) and its accompanying microvascular complications. Accordingly, several studies have reported the potential use of dietary interventions and/or pharmacological agents to modulate autophagy as a novel therapeutic strategy to better manage diabetic microvasculopathy.

This Special Issue welcomes original research and review articles that aim to expand our understanding of this multifaceted process in the pathophysiology of DM and its microvascular complications. Additionally, studies that target autophagic machinery as novel potential therapeutic approaches for combating DM and its complications are also welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Crosstalk between autophagy and the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, or retinopathy
• Gene editing of autophagy components for managing diabetic complications: use of miRNA, shRNA, or siRNA
• Natural compounds targeting autophagy and diabetic complications
• Pharmacological interventions modulating autophagy and diabetic complications
• Global and tissue-specific autophagy knockout mice models to control diabetes-induced kidney, retinal, or neural damage
• Clinical outcome of the use of autophagic modulators in diabetic complications
• Autophagy, obesity, and diabetic complications
• Targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway to restore autophagy in diabetic complications
• Exercise and autophagy in type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Effect of fasting on autophagic response in type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Effect of impaired autophagy on pancreatic β cell function and insulin sensitivity