Autophagy

Cellular mechanism that recycles damaged or unnecessary components: misfolded proteins, exhausted mitochondria and toxic aggregates are degraded inside the lysosome then recycled into elementary building blocks. Declines with age, governed by the energy sensors AMPK (activates) and mTOR (inhibits). Stimulated by fasting, exercise and caloric restriction. Plays a central role in preventing neurodegeneration and cellular ageing. Discovery awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize (Yoshinori Ohsumi).