cellular recycling process tagged posts

In surprising reversal, scientists find a Cellular Process that Stops Cancer before it starts

Left: The 23 pairs of chromosomes of cells in which autophagy is functioning look normal and healthy with no structural or numerical aberrations (each color represents a unique chromosome pair). Right: the chromosomes of cells in which autophagy is not functioning bypass crisis, showing both structural and numerical aberrations, with segments added to, deleted from, and/or swapped between chromosomes–a hallmark of cancer.
Credit: Salk Institute

Cellular recycling process, thought to fuel cancer’s growth, can actually prevent it. Scientists studying the relationship of telomeres to cancer made a surprising discovery: a cellular recycling process called autophagy – generally thought of as a survival mechanism – actually promotes the death of cells, thereby preventing cancer initiation.

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Cellular Recycling Process is Key to Longer, Healthier Life

The UTSW research team that reported on autophagy in Nature includes, from left: (front) Drs. Ming Chang Hu, Beth Levine, and Orson Moe, and (back) Salwa Sebti and Álvaro Fernández. Credit: Image courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center

The UTSW research team that reported on autophagy in Nature includes, from left: (front) Drs. Ming Chang Hu, Beth Levine, and Orson Moe, and (back) Salwa Sebti and Álvaro Fernández. Credit: Image courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center

Building on two decades of research, investigators at UT Southwestern have determined that “cellular housekeeping” can extend the lifespan and healthspan of mammals. A study jointly led by Drs. Salwa Sebti and Álvaro Fernández, postdoctoral researchers in the Center for Autophagy Research, found that mice with persistently increased levels of autophagy – the process a cell uses to dispose of unwanted or toxic substances that can harm cellular health – live longer and are healthier...

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