If you don’t know what I’m talking about, keep reading!
We all desire to live “A long healthy life.”
I intentionally bold this statement (A long healthy life) to grab your attention. Re-read it, and you will notice that it has two parts “A long” and “healthy life.” The first part depends on the second one.
Think about it. If we stay healthy, we live longer — unless a sudden incident happens.
Not surprisingly, the ultimate goal of life sciences research today is to make a human’s lifespan longer and healthier.
Autophagy is an emerging field of research that has the potential to achieve this goal. And this’s why many researchers consider it a hot topic in life sciences research these days.
So what’s autophagy?
Autophagy is a natural cleaning-out process that operates inside our body cells. This process helps the cell to degrade and recycle the parts that are no longer needed.
Let’s simplify it. Think about your household waste clearance process. You collect the waste items, put them in a trash bag, and then transfer them to a bin outside your house. Sometime later, they are delivered to a recycling plant.
Autophagy does the same job inside the cell. First, it identifies and collects the parts that are not required. Then, it packed them inside a specialized structure called the autophagosome (the thrash bag). The autophagosome delivers the targeted parts to the lysosome (the bin or recycling plant), which is the structure responsible for digestion and waste disposal. The lysosome degrades and converts them into valuable products for rebuilding the cell.
What cellular parts are targeted by autophagy?
Researchers have found that autophagy targets a wide range of cellular parts for degradation. Some of them are the following:
- Damaged or unnecessary organelles such as mitochondria, nucleus, peroxisomes, and endoplasmic reticulum.
- Dysfunctional or toxic proteins that pose a threat to cell survival.
- Pathogens (viruses and bacteria) that invade the cell.
Now that you know the autophagy process, let’s get back to our main topic, “Why autophagy is a hot topic today in life sciences research.”
There is a list of research evidence that could support this notion, but here we’ll focus on the two main ones that are more relevant.
1. Anti-aging effects of autophagy
2. Protection from age-related diseases
Let’s dive deep into each of these.
1. Anti-aging effects of autophagy
The anti-aging aspect of autophagy has gotten more attention recently. And why shouldn’t it, as we all strive to live long to enjoy all the good things life has to offer.
Based on recent research, enhancing autophagy activity inside the body could slow aging and promote longevity.
Here’s how it does so.
It removes old and damaged cellular components
As we age, most organelles inside our body cells become less efficient in their performance.
Let’s take the example of mitochondria, which provide most of the energy to the cell and maintain a healthy cellular condition. Over time, there is a fall in mitochondrial quality and activity, and so their ability to provide cellular energy is lost. In other words, they become useless for the cell. As reported by several studies, the accumulation of such useless mitochondria directly impacts the aging process.
Autophagy plays a crucial role in removing these useless mitochondria. In fact, researchers have coined a particular term for this type of autophagy, “mitophagy.”
Enhancing mitophagy activity improves cell functions and promotes healthy aging. This has been reported in several studies conducted on animals and published in well-renowned journals, including the Journals of Nature and Current Biology.
Based on findings from these and other similar studies, researchers consider mitophagy an effective strategy to slow down aging and extend lifespan.
It improves metabolism
As we age, our body’s ability to carry out the metabolism declines, which becomes noticeable after age 60.
Researchers have now realized that autophagy, metabolism, and aging are linked. They have identified many factors that connect these three different processes. One such factor is the activity of TOR (target-of-rapamycin).
TOR is a well-known protein that senses the body’s metabolic status. It activates when there is nutrient depletion in the body, and this activation, in turn, suppresses the autophagy process. In other words, TOR is the negative regulator of autophagy.
Since metabolic activity declines with age, activating the autophagy process by inhibiting TOR activity may improve the body’s metabolic activity. This, as a result, could improve longevity. Researchers have reported this phenomenon in several studies published in many journals, including Science, Genes & Development, Aging Cell, and Development. They have noticed that inhibiting the TOR activity increases lifespan, possibly by enhancing autophagy.
2. Protection from age-related diseases
As mentioned above, we tend to live longer if we stay away from chronic diseases, especially those strongly linked with age.
And when it comes to age-related diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are the two most common.
Alzheimer’s destroys a person’s memory and thinking skills. It has affected 1 in 14 people over the age of 65. Whereases, Parkinson’s affects the body’s motor functions, and current estimates show that almost 10 million people worldwide live with this condition.
The research conducted in animal and human brain tissues has shown that both diseases are linked to the abnormal accumulation of specific proteins.
In the case of Alzheimer’s, it’s the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein fragments. When not eliminated on time, these fragments deposit and affect the memory and thinking functions of the brain.
Likewise, in Parkinson’s disease, a protein called alpha-synuclein loses its function and produces abnormal structures termed “Lewy bodies .” Researchers consider Lewy bodies as the typical feature that appears in the brain of Parkinson’s patients.
Animal studies have shown that abnormal accumulation of beta-amyloid and alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain enhances aging.
Interestingly, autophagy is one of the major pathways responsible for the clearance of these toxic proteins. This suggests that autophagy has dual benefits here. Its activation not only protects the body from developing brain diseases but, at the same time, could also promote longevity.
In closing
Autophagy is not just a degradative process and not just a recycling event, but an emerging field of research that comes with tremendous health benefits for human life. The field that researchers have just started to explore. And the deeper they dive into it, the more they are amazed by its wonders. Which is why “it’s a hot topic today in life sciences research.”
Now you would be wondering how you could activate this process in your body. Well, I’ve published another article discussing different ways of achieving autophagy. Here’s the link to that article: This’s How You Activate Autophagy in Your Body. Enjoy reading it!
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