Role of Autophagy in Scleral Remodeling During Form-Deprivation Myopia

Wen J, Tang S, Zhang Xiaoxiao · 2026 · FASEB Journal · Atlas ID WEN2026

What this study shows

Excess scleral autophagy links hypoxic stress to extracellular matrix remodelling in experimental myopia. In form-deprived guinea pigs, subconjunctival rapamycin made myopia worse and 3-MA alleviated it, while atropine slowed myopia and suppressed autophagy-related changes. AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K signalling was measured, but the paper does not establish it as the mediating route.

Abstract

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Autophagy has been implicated in tissue remodeling, but its role in scleral remodeling during myopia development and in atropine-mediated myopia control remains unclear. We investigated this issue using complementary in vitro and in vivo models. Human scleral fibroblasts (HSFs) were exposed to hypoxia and treated with rapamycin (RAPA) or 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Beclin-1 knockdown and bafilomycin A1 (BafA1)-based LC3B II accumulation assays were used to assess the functional contribution of autophagy and autophagic flux.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Guinea pig; Human scleral fibroblasts); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Guinea pig; Human scleral fibroblasts
Journal	FASEB Journal
Year	2026
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1096/fj.202600954RR · PMID 42545197 · Free full text (PMC13431143)

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Rapamycin; 3-methyladenine; Atropine
Target	AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K; Beclin-1; LC3B
Model	Guinea pig; Human
Effect	Excess mTOR-regulated scleral autophagy promotes myopia: rapamycin worsened it, 3-MA reduced it; atropine's benefit involved suppressing autophagy

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Wen, J., Tang, S., & Zhang Xiaoxiao (2026). Role of Autophagy in Scleral Remodeling During Form-Deprivation Myopia. FASEB Journal. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202600954RR

@article{WEN2026,
  author       = {Wen, J. and Tang, S. and Zhang Xiaoxiao},
  title        = {{Role of Autophagy in Scleral Remodeling During Form-Deprivation Myopia}},
  journal      = {FASEB Journal},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.1096/fj.202600954RR},
  note         = {PMID: 42545197},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record WEN2026) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/WEN2026/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_WEN2026,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record WEN2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/WEN2026/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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