Autophagy

Autophagy is a conserved lysosomal degradation pathway in which cells engulf damaged organelles, misfolded proteins, and other cytoplasmic material in double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes for recycling (a process most precisely describing macroautophagy, the dominant subtype). By clearing dysfunctional components and recycling amino acids during nutrient stress, it maintains cellular homeostasis. Declining autophagic flux is widely observed with age, though the magnitude is tissue- and context-dependent, and its induction by fasting, exercise, and rapamycin is considered one of the major proposed longevity mechanisms.