§ Glossary · biology

Autophagy

The cell's recycling process — sequestering and degrading damaged proteins and organelles.

Autophagy ('self-eating') is the cellular process by which damaged or unneeded proteins and organelles are sequestered in autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. It maintains cellular homeostasis, removes mitochondrial damage (mitophagy), and is up-regulated under nutrient stress (fasting). Reduced autophagy is associated in the literature with ageing, neurodegeneration, and metabolic dysfunction; pharmacological enhancement (rapamycin, spermidine) is an active longevity research area. mTOR is the most-studied negative regulator of autophagy.

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