ATG9A and cardiac hypertrophy: In C. elegans, miR-34a modulates lifespan via directly repressing the autophagy gene ATG9A. 31 In mammalian models, gene ATG9A was proved as one of miR-34a target genes and its inhibition was found in neural stem cell differentiation45 and cardiac hypertrophy,46 while miR-34a was overexpressing.