Autophagy
DEAutophagie
Autophagy is your body's recycling program for worn-out cell parts. The name means "self-eating": a cell wraps damaged proteins and broken organelles in a double-membrane bag (an autophagosome) and ships it to the lysosome, its recycling plant, to be broken down and reused. This keeps cells clean and frees up amino acids when food is scarce. Autophagy tends to slow with age, though how much depends on the tissue. Fasting, exercise, and rapamycin all switch it back on, which is why it is one of the most studied longevity mechanisms. (Strictly, this describes macroautophagy, the dominant type.)
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Sources
- Mizushima & Komatsu. (2011). Autophagy: Renovation of Cells and Tissues. *Cell*doi:10.1016/j.cell.2011.10.026
- Klionsky et al.. (2021). Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition). *Autophagy*doi:10.1080/15548627.2020.1797280