autophagy for 21 December 2025

Autophagy Latest News

Researchers have uncovered a surprising player in the autophagy process that can pave the way for developing therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer.

About Autophagy

• It is a key biological process where cells clear out damaged and unwanted materials.
• The autophagy pathway, which removes damaged material and defends against infections, is disrupted in diseases like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s.
• When a cell fails to clear waste, its health suffers, especially in long-lived neurons.
• Autophagy is the body's cellular recycling system.
• It allows a cell to disassemble its junk parts and repurpose the salvageable bits and pieces into new, usable cell parts.

Importance of Autophagy

• It recycles damaged cell parts into fully functioning cell parts.
• It gets rid of nonfunctional cell parts that take up space and slow performance.
• It destroys pathogens in a cell that can damage it, like viruses and bacteria.
• Autophagy plays an important role when it comes to aging and longevity, too. 

Autophagy and Disease Linkages

• Autophagy initially prevents cancer but later supports tumour growth and acts as a tumour suppressor by maintaining genome integrity and cellular homeostasis.
• In certain types of cancer, cells hijack autophagy for their own survival and propagation.

Source: DD News