Autophagy:the cell’s guardian against aging

Takayuki Shima^1）, Shuhei Nakamura^1）2）3）, Tamotsu Yoshimori^1）2）4）

^1）Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University
^2）Department of Intracellular Membrane Dynamics, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University
^3）Institute for Advanced Co-Creation Studies, Osaka University
^4）Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives （OTRI）

An evolutionally conserved cytoplasmic degradation system, autophagy has emerged as a key process to prevent cellular and organismal aging.　On the other hand, autophagic activity decreases with age in many organisms, promoting aging and age-associated diseases, but the underlying mechanism was unclear.　Importantly, our recent studies have revealed that an increase in Rubicon, a suppressor of autophagy is one of main causes of this decline and progression of several age-related diseases.　This paper highlights the latest results on the relationship between autophagy and aging in cells and organisms, and the regulation of lifespan.

Address correspondence to Dr. Tamotsu Yoshimori, Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University （2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, Japan）