ATG13 and neoplasm: Cu is necessary for the activity of autophagy kinases ULK1 and ULK2, and it directly binds to them and acts as a regulatory factor to promote the phosphorylation and activation of autophagy-related protein 13 (ATG13), promote the formation of autophagosome complexes, and ultimately lead to tumor growth (Tsang et al., 2020; Xie et al., 2023).