Abstract
Ouroboros, autophagy, cell health and cell death by Eric H. Baehrecke
Autophagy (self-eating) is a conserved catabolic process that targets cytoplasmic components for degradation by the lysosome of cells. Autophagy is an important cellular response to stress, and plays essential roles in development, aging, immunity, cancer and neurodegeneration. Thus, autophagy is considered a promising target for disease therapies. Studies of yeast led to the identification of conserved factors that regulate autophagy, but the role of autophagy in specific cell contexts in multi-cellular organisms has not been rigorously studied. The identification of novel autophagy regulatory mechanisms, and how this catabolic process contributes to cell, tissue, and organism health, will be presented.